A Radical Sabbatical

Oh man, learning to swim is so not easy.  I can’t seem to get the rhythm of using my arms, paddling my feet and bringing my head up for air all at the same time and without swallowing water.  I was never good at multi-tasking.  And swimming seems to be the ultimate multi-tasking event I’ve been confronted with in a long time.   Well actually, thats not true.  I multi-task daily, but with my head above water.

I couldn’t help but wonder how swimming first started out?  Who figured out how to swim and who came up with all the strokes?  Did the caveman jump in the lake and suddenly realize he needed to use his arms so that he wouldnt drown?  Did Moses swim across the ocean before he parted the water?  

I actually swam across the pool today, using a board and fins.  Jeesh! those fins have you flying across the water.  I actually learned to use the board, keep my head in the water, use one arm at a time letting go of the board and bringing my head up for air.  It all went fine until the teacher took my board away.  Than I swallowed enough water to go thru detox.  Getting water in your lungs is no fun but I tolerated the event. 

My teacher threatened to be tough with me next week if I didn’t swim without the board across the pool.   Hmmm, he’s gonna get tough with me?  what does that mean? put me in the kiddie pool next time?  make me wear nose plugs maybe?  Jeesh! I can’t imagine what he meant by that statement but all I know is I still want to dive into the pool at the deep end.   I’ll probably never be Esther Williams but then again, Esther Williams will never be me.

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This entry was posted on Friday, October 12th, 2007 at 1:00 am and is filed under Life, Personal. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.