Wild Wednesday

Wednesdays are one of the highlights of my week. The other is Friday date night with my wife. But Wednesdays, during this semester at least, are a long but happy and satisfying day. I teach three classes in the morning, keep some office time, then go home to eat and see what I can get done on the exercise front. This particular Wednesday I decided to go to Twin Rivers for my first swim of the year there. They just pumped up the pool so it is cold, dirty, and not ready for swimming. But I frequent catfish ponds so getting in that dirty pool is like taking a bath for me.

I carried my wet suit with me but decided after I got there to go skins. The water was 68 degrees which is just about my lower limit. It felt great after the initial shock of pushing off the wall. I swam 2,100 straight, and stopped because I had a lot to do to get ready for class. I was getting a bit cold and experienced some after drop when I got to the house. After going home and changing into my work clothes, I went to Mom's and administered her afternoon meds and made sure she had something to eat. Then it was back to school.

Usually, I go in at 5:30 on Wednesdays but I was there by 5:00 because I needed to capture some screen shots for discussing Unforgiven, the movie we watched last week. Film as Literature is my all-time favorite course to teach, and right now I have the best class I've ever had. That makes going to work a real joy. I leave school for the final time on Wednesdays at almost 9:00 pm. Since I have to get a swim in during the afternoon, I now am forced to run after my night class. Wednesday is also one of the nights I stay with Mom. So it is off to Mom's, more meds, change clothes, and out the door for a run in the dark. I shuffled 3.6 miles, did some walking, then gave Mom her shot. After that I changed clothes again, and settled in for a little mindless TV.

Now I am in a quandary about what to do today. I can go to Twin Rivers and save a lot of driving, but I am limited to how long I can stay in and swim because of the cold water. I could go to DSU and get 4,000 or more meters, but I have to drive for two hours to do it. I could even go to the pond and swim in my suit and stay in as long as I want. I only need one more long swim this week, around 7,000 meters or more. I like to do my really long stuff on Fridays and Mark Blackwood tells me that he has that lake pumped up that he has been telling me about for years. It is large enough to water ski and I can swim it if I can get up with him to let me in. Choices, choices. I'll let you know how it goes.