Swim for Choice

Tues, Sept 17 8:48pm

Wind: from S 3.5 m/sec (8 mph)

Air Temperature: 16.9 °C (62 °F)

Water Temperature: 19.92 °C (68 °F)

Today at the lake it was overcast, and the park was almost empty. There were a few people walking on the paths, and I saw someone swimming in the distance, but it felt empty and a bit lonely. 

There was a woman with a toddler on the beach, chatting and throwing rocks into the water. I don’t know why throwing rocks into the water is so exciting. All the little kids to it. I’d rather look at the rocks, look for treasure, make a pile of sticks and light them on fire. 

The ducks and geese were nowhere to be found. Instead, there were lots of seagulls parked on the cement dock and a two grey gulls paddling around in the shallow water. Overhead there was a noisy swarm of crows. 

I got in the water and quickly dove in and started swimming. The water feels a lot colder now, so it’s better to just fling myself into it than to stand there shivering. The cold water felt a bit shocking to my body, but I liked it. It’s still more cool than cold, and I don’t know how many more swims I’ll do without a wetsuit. 

It was nice to be in the water when almost nobody was around. The water was fairly flat. I could hear a buzzing noise in the water, and I stopped to look around. There was a motorboat in the distance.

I felt like I was swimming forever but not reaching the milfoil. I was swimming fairly strong crawl, and I kept it up for a few minutes. Once I reached the milfoil, I swam over it more slowly, using my modified breast stroke. I could see little particles in the water, and I wondered if I should be putting anitbiotic gel in my nose before swimming. Would that prevent any parasites or whatever getting into my nose, into my brain. It’s the only thing I really worry about with swimming. 

I swam out into the deep water, where I couldn’t see any more milfoil, and found a nice space where I could see the sandy lake bottom. I alternated between crawl and breast stroke, favoring the latter. I didn’t get much sleep last night, so I was very tired. I could see someone swimming not too far away, doing backstroke back and forth across a small area. 

I have a new tow buoy, and it’s driving me a bit crazy. My feet kept getting tangled in the strap when I tired to do breast stroke kick. I switched to crawl, and then the buoy floated over near my feet. Irritating. 

I kept looking for my friends today, but they didn’t make it to the park. I always enjoy the park more when I see my friends. 

After awhile I decided to swim to the cement dock, so I turned around. After going in circles a few times I did a better job of siting, and swam back into the swim area. The milfoil is so tall. I could feel it on my fingers with each stroke. I swam in toward the shore to get away from the tall stalks, then I swam up to the cement dock. I was intentionally very splashy, hoping to scare the birds away. I didn’t want to get pooped on or pecked while doing my pull-ups. 

I could only do eight, then I swam under the dock to the north side of the dock and did another eight. There was a big fish under the dock, and we slowly moved around each other. I didn’t want it scare it away. After I finished my pull-ups, I swam back to the east side of the dock. I changed my grip and did another six pull-ups. Then I decided to get out.

The showers were nice and hot, and I liked the feeling of the needles of water drilling into the skin on my back. I’ve had these weird sores on my leg, upper back, and other parts of my body that showed up several months ago, and they will not go away. They don’t heal. My dermatologist gave me some medicine I can dab on them, but they are persisting. F them. 

I think they are from stress. Life has been extra challenging the past six months since my father died and I lost my housing, so I assume my body is reacting in its own way. 

Getting in the water is my best way to combat stress, but it can’t fix everything. Once I get moved into the new place I will try acupuncture. Maybe that will help. 

I just looked at my swim squiggle, and the GPS tracker made a cool shape today: reproductive organs. It’s not perfect, but there is a uterus, two ovaries, and a vagina! Yea. Today my swim is a reminder that reproductive freedom is EVERYTHING. Crazy that this was all decided decades ago, and that we are moving backwards. More than crazy: it’s stupid and hateful. Women should not have to keep fighting for adequate healthcare.

Now I am home and thinking about what I want to eat. Thank you, lake.