3+ loops
lake nokomis open swim
60 degrees
Cold again this morning, but at least there was warm sun. And, I had enough time to take a long hot shower when I was done. Maybe it was because the water was colder, but I felt faster, more buoyant, strong.
It was calm the first loop, but by the second, rough, choppy. The lifeguards opened the course late — well, I never heard them open it. After waiting 15 minutes, we all just started going. They wanted the orange buoys to be perfectly in line, which was not necessary, or even possible. Their desire for perfection did not extend to the green buoys; they were way off course. The one closest to the big beach wasn’t close at all, and by my third loop had drifted even farther away.
image: Most of the time, it was sunny and bright. A few times, the sun was covered by clouds. Once, as it went behind a big, fluffy cloud, everything went dark — the water, the air. Not only could I see it, but I felt it: heaviness.
feeling: Rounding the first orange buoy for a second (or was it third?) loop, I suddenly felt strange, out of it. Light-headed? Dizzy? Not sure. I began to worry that I wouldn’t be able to make it across the lake and then felt the anxiety spread, warm tingling from my toes to the top of my head. I pictured foamy water in a pot about to boil over and then imagined the water slowly retreating. My anxiety dissolved.
Dissolving made me think of aspirin which reminded me of a line from a poem I posted on here on 22 may 2020, Push the button, hear the sound / Helen Mort:
Can you hear the aspirin of the sun dissolving?
Thinking more about the word dissolve — did my anxiety dissolve? Do I dissolve in the water? Not quite. I think there is a better word for what happens to me.
…watching a replay of the women’s 10k open swim. That current in the Seine! Yikes. Rowdy Gaines is talking about how before they cleaned it up, only 3 species of fish could live in the polluted Seine. Now, there are 36 species.
Yesterday, we checked out RJP’s dorm room. Bigger than the ones at Gustavus. The bathroom was bright, with orange and yellow tiles. She seemed to like it. She moves in 2 weeks from today. Wow!