A Bath?
Or a swim!
As a child, it was nearly impossible to keep me out of the water—any water. Still, today, I love playing and being in bodies of water. I love the smell of chlorine on my skin after a swim or an Aqua class. I love how, when swimming in lakes, I feel the top 2 inches of warm water, and the rest of the lake water is cold below. I love how ocean water smells and the sound of crashing waves.
Today, (February 26, 2026), while in an Aqua Class at the gym I belong to, I was asked to stay out of the swim lanes during the Aqua fitness class! The swim lanes are typically empty. They were both empty today, except for my body… and because I have been around pools for my entire life, pool etiquette is ingrained in me. I know how precious lap swim lanes can be. I also volunteered for USA Swimming (the organization that chooses elite athletes for the Olympics) for over 10 years. I have a lot of respect for pool time!
However, during Aqua class, sometimes I just want a bit more room to splash and enjoy the water. So, I move out of the prescribed part of the pool and into the lane lines. Often for just a few minutes of class. While I am not in the “right place” during an Aqua Class, I watch for incoming swimmers, and if I see any, I immediately move out of the swim lane and back under the ropes into the water aerobics side of the pool (I have only had to do this once in over three months). However, someone at the club has decided that my attention to my surroundings is not enough. I am to stay out of the swim lanes! Always, during Aqua Class.
Being told to move out of the swim lane during class, made me feel chastised and humiliated. I finished the workout and left the gym frustrated and angry. I do understand that if everyone broke the rules as I did and have, then there would be no lanes for swimming, so I will not stay angry.
I might even decide to stop taking the Aqua Classes and instead begin to swim laps, since I know those two lanes are nearly always empty during this particular time frame.
Hopefully, by sharing this story, I will feel better soon. I’ll also make sure to get back into the pool as soon as possible. The horse did not buck me off, only sent me under a lane line after all…
Now I will share more water, in hopes that this Friday Fun post will inspire you to visit a body of water or to take a bath!
An Icelandic public pool. Glorious swimming!!!! I want to go back just for their pools.
Swimming in a glacier pond in Alaska! Yes, cramp-ons on my feet and water that is literally freezing or frozen? There is floating ice sludge in the water. Sludge sounds awful, but the water is ice water and barely below freezing—32ish degrees farenhiet—this is very hard to explain unless you’ve experienced water this cold.
Sadly, visitors are not allowed to swim in this pool. But oh, how much I would love to do so!!! At Hearst Castle, members (membership fees are additional) may reserve a few minutes of swim time by appointment only for $1000. My son, Jeff is in the lower right corner. We were visiting the grounds.
Floras Lake at lakes edge, Oregon. I miss this place.
A fellow classmate in graduate art school as shown lounging in a dumpster for an installation class we both took. She used cold hosewater. She was not comfortable. In grad school for art there are no grades, only critiques. She passed and graduated with me.
Ahhhhh, white sand at the ocean’s edge in Florida, a number of years ago!
Hopefully, I have inspired an urge to get wet! If you decide a bath is the best way to go, use bubbles, splash, lounge, and enjoy the water’s rejuvenating effects.
Remember to grab your Rubber Duckie too! Size is irrelevant. :)
She is always in my bathroom and makes me smile!
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I completely relate! Water was my refuge as a child and teenager. I was more comfortable at the bottom of a pool filled with water than standing on dry land. Some of my happiest memories are from being a surfer-girl on the Texas coast. There's nothing like that rush of freedom and joy when riding the waves :).
Amazing how those sensations of water leave such an indelible impression. It must be primal.
I do hope that you're feeling better about the "stay out swim lanes" admonishment, although it does sound like "rules gone amuck." Sometimes I think our culture is just too structured for its own good. Maybe "more room to splash and enjoy the water" is just the antidote :)!
This weeks entry on swimming is marvelous and fact filled.Keep it up!JRU