Chicot Clarified

With less than a week until the big event, the Chicot picture is finally coming into focus. Wilson Carroll, who along with his son Spence originally volunteered to swim in my place, verified this morning that he and his boy would indeed meet us at the boat ramp of the State Park Saturday morning and join MJ Staples as this year's swimmers. 

With the swimmers set, I went ahead and set the course to go all the way to Ditch Bayou. At least. If the athletes want to turn around and stroke back, we will accommodate them, of course. The State Park to Ditch Bayou route is officially a little over 11.5 miles, but in the water it is over twelve. That will give each swimmer four miles each, no small feat, but not an overwhelming one. It will be one, I hope, we can all enjoy.

With the big boat, three swimmers, a set course, and a seasoned crew, I am looking forward to the 2018 Challenge. For a long time I mourned my inability to swim. At least for now, the grieving has passed and 'joy has risen with the morning.' I am looking forward to seeing MJ again. She came all the way from Atlanta, Georgia, last year, at her own expense to serve as the swim's Official Observer. Besides observing, she also did some support swimming with me. She was a real blessing then and remains one now. 

I'm also excited to be a part of Spence having his first go at open water swimming. Who knows where this could lead. Spence is a pretty accomplished pool swimmer. Often, however, pool swimmers show little interest in "wild swimming" as our cousins in the UK call it. Once he swims his first mile in that lake, I bet he'll be hooked for life.

I especially look forward to a day on the lake rather than in it. For the first time, I will be a part of the crew. For the first time, I will spend the day on the lake with my sweet wife, Penny, who will be part of the crew. For the first time, I will get to see more of the lake than when I swim it. Swimming is a sensory deprivation kind of experience. You feel the lake, experience her embrace. You notice her changing temperatures and moods. If she grows angry, she smites you. She either lets you swim her or she doesn't; she reminded me of that last year when I had to work as hard as I could to inch forward against her waves and her wind. For a while. Then her mood changed, and she was kind to me again. She embraced me until the sun went down and the moon rose high, and we experienced one another in the dark. But despite all those intimate contacts with the lady we call Chicot, the visual joy of her astounding beauty is for the most part hidden from the swimmer.

This time I will observe her beauty. This time I will take pictures. This time I will write notes. I will see her again June the 2nd.