Back in the Water

Finally, I got into the water Thursday afternoon. I could tell that my swim fitness had slipped some. But hey, whose fault is that? I just have not negotiated going back to work and training very well this time. It's not like I haven't been through this before. 

Speaking of before, before I get to the swimming, I had a good day at work. I like the new environment of our temporary campus. After being on main campus all day Wednesday, I enjoyed being in Greenwood Thursday. I even had some divine inspiration on some new techniques for teaching writing this upcoming semester. That has me excited, and that is another thing I like about my job. You get to start over every semester. You have new students and the opportunity to try new things. And hopefully, you learned something over the past semester that will help you this time around.

Back to the pool. I swam 1,125, and I stopped on the wrong wall to chat with Alaina who had just gotten in. That's why there is a -25 on the end of that number. She, like a lot of people, swims from the wrong end of the pool. She seems impervious to the fact that she could start a fire on Park Avenue by doing that. East is symbolic of life because the sun rises from that direction. That's why maps in the Ancient Near East oriented east while ours orient north. Ever notice how many fires we have, even in nature? And that is why the pyramids were on the west side of the Nile, the side of death.

Back to the pool again. I swam back to the correct end of the pool, put on a pair of small paddles and swam 2 X 25. Then I put on a pair of medium paddles and swam a single 50 and stopped. Huh? The fire that Alaina may have started somewhere in town, was not in my belly. I was thinking of running and how I have done so little of that lately.

I waited until 6:30 to head out the door. It's been a little hot lately. The dewpoint was 78, so I sweated like I was in a sauna even at that late hour. But I shuffled 4.52 miles. I was dreadfully slow and felt like stopping after five steps. The leg work Paul B and I did had me really feeling and looking like an old man. But I kept going until my left foot started hurting, and I walked a few tenths of a mile home. That 4.52 miles represents a long run for me right now. 

Plate City? It was too late. What do I mean "too late"? A few years back, someone in town contracted the West Nile Virus. He was in the hospital for weeks and one day my wife heard second hand that he was having a good day, that "he knows who he is." Dude, I don't want any part of that. When the mosquitoes come out, I go in. That's why it was too late. I don't want to give those little assasins a shot at me. I am looking forward to when it gets cool enough to where mosquitoes are not an issue. I like it out there at night. There is a huge oak tree in a neighbor's yard. Sometimes the moon will rise behind that tree, and it is one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen.