It was a lounge-around kind of lazy Sunday where all I wanted to do was read my book in various locations around the house and yard. I didn’t want to swim. I did it, though. Not very far or vigorously, but after arguing with myself for half the day, I finally jumped in. The water was… Read More Lazy Sunday (Day 191)
I woke up early and decided to start my day with a swim, feeling grateful that I can make that decision and be in the water two minutes later. It takes only as long as the time to pull on my bathing suit and stumble outside. A chilly breeze ushered me into the cool water,… Read More Underwater (Day 190)
Karen found me slumped on the couch this afternoon, feeling sorry for myself after receiving an especially disappointing rejection. Before said rejection, I was doing great, fresh from yoga, working on a new writing project. Then the email pinged into my inbox and in the next moment, I was prone on the couch, doomscrolling Instagram… Read More Swimming with Karen (Day 189)
I didn’t start this daily swim challenge in order to become a better swimmer or to accomplish a big swim goal. I did it in order to do something I love every day; something that makes me feel good, that improves my mental and physical health. But regardless of whether or not it’s my intention… Read More Improvement (Day 188)
It was long distance swim at the club again today and this time I wasn’t the only swimmer. Yesterday’s rain had cooled the lake a couple of degrees and it felt good getting in; refreshing, invigorating, and like I wanted to swim hard. It was sunny and breezy and the lake was full of energy.… Read More Wavy Swim to the Island (Day 187)
There are a few ways in which my daily swimming has changed my relationship to getting into the water. One of them is my willingness—eagerness—to jump in whatever the weather. I woke up this morning to gray, wet skies and felt a little thrill that I would get to swim in the rain today. Rain… Read More Swimming in the Rain (Day 186)
I spent a good portion of my day today writing the post for my swim yesterday and I’m all out of words for today’s swim. Isabelle and I swam for over an hour in her bay today, exploring the shoreline and swimming out to table rock—the big granite sheet that stymies boats in this otherwise… Read More Nelson’s Bay (Day 185)
I woke early to the mournful sound of a loon calling across the lake and jumped out of bed. I want to swim with the loon! Before I was fully awake I was standing at the water’s edge, listening to the chittering and chirping of the birds, the gentle lap of the water against the… Read More Looking for the Loon (Day 182)
Another Adult Swim day. As I mentioned in my last post about Adult Swim, this is where I first learned to properly swim under the guidance of an everchanging series of teens and young adults who make up the Lake Louisa Social Club staff each summer. When I started doing Adult Swim, my own kids… Read More Coach Hazel (Day 181)
Today I had my safest swim yet. In addition to Adult Swim, the club is offering a long-distance swim each Wednesday morning; a couple of staff/lifeguards will kayak alongside a group of swimmers to various destinations around the lake. This morning I was the only swimmer to show up and so I had two lifeguards… Read More Escorted to the Island (Day 180)