2 miles
lake nokomis main beach
75 degrees
Finally, I was able to swim again! Last time I swam was Thursday. Too much smoke all weekend. I ran the most miles in a week that I have in a while, but I missed swimming. Swam around the white buoys at lake nokomis. There might have been one or two people in the water, much nearer to shore. My only companions: an occasional rower or boarder and a seagull that liked to perch on the white buoys as I swam by. I was happy to have the bird’s company, although I worried that they were there to catch a fish–which meant that I was also swimming with a lot of fish–and I wondered if they might try to attack me as I swam by. They didn’t. A few times they flew away, off to another buoy.
Because I’ve been swimming across the lake almost every day, I haven’t had much time to swim laps/loops around the buoys. It’s not as exciting, but it’s less crowded, more relaxed, and I don’t have to worry about sighting or getting off course. I’d like do more of these small loops but I don’t know if I have time (or the energy to add even more swimming).
The water was cold, but felt great. Very calm, no chop. Sunny, but not too bright. My goggles fogged up again. Is it time for a new pair? Heard lots of sloshing and, at one point, a loud shriek from shore. A kid freaking out. I breathed every 5 strokes and worked on closing my mouth before I put it back in the water. Also tried to pull harder and push by hand down more forcefully as it went under my torso. Thought about my dr’s appointment this morning for all of my sinus troubles this last year. No real answers for the sinus pressure or why my jaw would tighten up and my nose and eyes would feel like I had an iron blanket on my face. Was it largely due to stress over the pandemic? It’s both unsettling and fascinating how we respond to stress and anxiety in such physical ways.
Here’s a song about love that I heard on the radio this weekend by one of my favorite Schoolhouse Rock Singers (only second to my ultimate favorite, Blossom Dearie): Bob Dorough. I have always loved song lyrics and the interesting, compelling, complicated ways words are made into music and combined with music.
Love (Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary)/ Bob Dorough
Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary
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Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary
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Page 498
Love
L-O-V-E
Love
Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary
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Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary
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5 meanings are given
One: Love, a feeling of
strong personal attachment
induced by sympathetic understanding
or by ties of kinship
ardent affection
Two: strong liking for
feeling fondness
having good will
as love of learning
as in love of country
as in love of country
Three: tender
tender and passionate affection
which seeks fulfillment in sex
Four: Cupid or eros
as the god of love
sometimes Venus
Five: tennis
love in tennis means no points scored
and you have nothing
and you have nothing
antonym: hate
awesome instrumental interlude
Five: tennis (tennis)
love in tennis
means no points scored
and you have nothing
and I have nothing
antonym: hate
Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary
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Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary
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Five meanings of love
Since I mentioned Blossom Dearie, here’s on of my favorite love songs by her:
Down with Love/ Blossom Dearie
Down with love the flowers and rice and shoes
Down with love the root of all midnight blues
Down with things that give you that well-known ping
Take that moon & wrap it in cellophane
Down with love let’s liquidate all its friends
Moon and June and roses and rainbow’s ends
Down with songs that moan about night and day
Down with love yes take it away, away
Take it away
Take it away
Give it back to the birds and bees and the Viennese
Down with eyes romantic and stupid
Down with sighs, down with cupid
Brother let’s stuff that dove
Down with love
I am not down with (romantic) love, but I am tired of the well-worn ways it is represented in songs and poetry. I love the line about liquidating all its friends: moon and june and roses and rainbow’s ends