Lake Connection, Robots, Flowers, Vikings

Today at the sea the wind was whipping across the water, making it little furious waves that came at me too quickly. I was smart and swam with the wind, and I made it to the diving platform faster than I usually do. 

I swim to the ladder on that dock to remove the extra belt I was wearing. I stupidly thought that I could use one belt to extend the range of my swim buoy so it would float farther away from me. It didn’t work. Instead, my foot got tangled in the extra length, and I had to tread water to try to untangle it. Bummer. 

I removed the belt and reattached it as belt, then swam under the dock. I love swimming under things because it feels a wee bit dangerous. Unknown. 

When I got to the other side of the platform I floated on my back for a few minutes, admiring the bunny shaped cloud above. I do love bunnies. I met a woman on Friday at my talk (about my project to write about swimming and mental health) who loves floating and reminded me to always take the time to float. It’s true. We all need to remember how good it feels to let go, float. I can get so focused on the swim that I sometimes forget to do it. 

I wore my wetsuit, but didn’t need it. I knew when I came on this trip that I would need a wetsuit for the end of the trip, but I miscalculated the water temperatures because the suit I ended up bringing is a thermal suit. It’s just not that cold yet. Wish I’d brought my 3:2 suit. Whatever. 

I spend some time jogging in place to get some exercise, then I started my swim back to the dock. All against the waves. I took that as a challenge, alternating between crawl and breast stroke. Hardly any jellyfish today, and the few that I encountered just tumbled past me, underneath me. Maybe 10 of 15. They are beautiful, but it is a distraction that I don’t enjoy. When I swim I want to get exercise, so I don’t want to have to worry about too many variables. It’s exhausting. 

When I reached the dock I pulled off my caps (a yellow cap for visibility over a thermal cap for warmth) and dunked my head into the water. The shower where I’m staying is on the third floor, so I consider myself clean after a swim. That’s how I’m rolling here. 

Then I tried to remove my wetsuit in the water like my neighbor does. It got stuck because I forgot to remove the belt, and then I couldn’t get the right leg over my giant Frodo foot. But I did it. Here’s the thing. Just stay calm, try. Then try a different way. My problem is that I will try for too long. This happened the other day in Kalmar. I was trying to figure out how to use the gas pump to refill my rental car, and I couldn’t make it work. I finally asked a woman who pulled in to fill her car, but she wasn’t interested in talking to me. Some people aren’t comfortable speaking English, so I walked over to a building near the pump and asked for help.  The lady was busy talking to a client, but gave me a nod like, “just a sec.” A few minutes later a helpful young man came over and schooled me. Yea!!! 

The bummer is that all those failed attempts ended up on my credit card for $224 each…..and then when I tried to use the card later that day, it didn’t work. Now I have to find a way to contact the pump people to get those 10 $224 charges removed. LOL. Live and learn.

Back to the sea…

Once I was on the dock I put on my fancy striped coverup, packed up my gear, and got my bike. I have loved my bike rides to the beach (hammarsbadet), and I’m starting to feel really sad about leaving. At the same time, I’m excited to be moving on to Stockholm, where I will meet my girl cousins…..and more boy cousins. Yea. 

A few hours later I was taking my rinsed off wetsuit outside to hang on the line, and I ran into one of the women who attended my talk on Friday. She was happy to see me, thinking I had already left. She was very excited to tell me that she has been in the lake three times since Friday! Like me, she has health issues characterized by extreme fatigue and spends a lot of her time resting and sleeping. She told me that the way I presented my story, my experiences with swimming made her feel like it was something she could try – at her own comfort level. Now she feels a tremendous sense of accomplishment. 

There is no cure for our diseases, but taking small risks, overcoming small fears, and getting the support of the water is a real thing. It feels good on so many levels. We stood and talked for about 15 minutes, and she was encouraging me to put my talk on YouTube to inspire others. I was almost in tears because I am in a place in my life where I am craving community and connection. So nice to have an interaction where I can meet someone who has similar health issues. A lot doesn’t need to be said because we know each others experiences. Then there is the fact that I am not a public speaker, but I guess I did a good job the other night. Yea. Mostly, we all had a lovely evening. There are women available for serious talks, swimming in lakes, eating gluten-free brownies. 

I’m not a lake swimming proselytizer. I endorse it, promote it, love to share it. But I would never want someone to do it if it didn’t feel right. And this woman received my talk in this very way, and it’s what made her feel that she could try it. Again, yea. I did something useful. The entire point of this residency in Sweden was not really to write an essay or even plan out a book. It was to figure out how to share my experiences in a meaningful way. I guess I have done that now. 

We ended our chat by deciding to swim tomorrow at her lake, which I have been to twice and love. Our fatigue plan is to go to my beach if we are too tired. After our swim, tea. And cakes. Or maybe girl dinner. 

Tra la la la la. 

Oh, I almost forgot. On the way to the beach I saw a robot lawnmower at the Saab factory. Hilarious and a little bit spooky, although it’s actually a nice use of robot-ish tech because it doesn’t necessarily put someone out of a job. then, as I cycled past the next building, there was a guy on a sit-down mower, cutting the grass around his building. Looks like fun. Both approaches work for me.

And, I got so see some pretty flowers in the park, as well as a sign explaining the viking ruins in the park. Fancy. Also, I had yummy pesto and tomatoes for dinner. Yumscious.