Flat Water Better

Today I had my friend, M, bring me to the lake because I wanted to see and hear the water, then go for a walk in the paths and count bunnies.

On the way to the park I told her that I might have to give up lake swimming until spring, and that I felt ok with that. But then we arrived at the park, and I could see from the lot that the lake looked perfect. Calm, flat. The sun was out. Mt Rainier was out.

Other mountains were visible through a break in the clouds, but I didn’t know the names. 30 years here, and I’ve never bothered to learn the names of the mountains. We walked along the beach, and all I could think about was how inviting the water looked. Just a few days ago it was dark and cold, and the water was so harsh. This I could handle.

I used my cane to poke at the pile of debris on the beach, hoping to find the knife and case I lost a week or more ago. It wasn’t there. I really need to get over it. But it was my floating fishing knife made in Sweden, and I never even got to use it for fishing or for freeing myself from tangles of seaweed.

M and I saw R’s parents at a bench near the path, and decided to walk over and say hi to them. By the time we got there, they were gone. So we headed down the path, and instantly started seeing bunnies. Yeas! We didn’t walk very far before R whizzed by on his bike. We waved. Then we ran into his parents.

We adore R. He spreads joy wherever he goes. And he sings the Wiggles when he passes us; that’s his way of saying “hi.” M had never really chatted with R’s parents, so we all got to talking, and had a lovely chat as the sun set.

We ended up walking with them back to the parking lot. It was too dark to keep walking in the park. I was happy to give up our walk to spend time with T and B. They are so kind, and take such good care of their son. They’ve brought him to the park almost every day for 20 years. M kept talking to them while I wandered over to their car to chat with R. He showed me photos on his phone (of his girlfriend, Miley Cyrus) and his police badge. I’m envious of his three-wheeled bike. I would love one, but would never be able to haul it in my tiny car.

Today’s lesson, more of a reminder: don’t call it until you have to. Seeing the water so still today (and arranging to try on some wetsuits next week) gave me hope that I can try a few more things before I give up on lake swimming. Or, more like, “call it a season” and focus on walking and pilates until spring. Who knows. Plus, 11 buns. If we’d actually done our walk, I’m pretty sure it would have been a 20+ bun day. And that rocks.

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