A Little R&R Today

As part of my rehab from last week's corporateness, I am taking a couple of vacation days this week. Today I started off at the Y, where I swim laps three times a week for an hour. I don't usually have the luxury of starting the day off with exercise, but it seemed like the best way to begin the new week. You let your mind wander and it's a great way to sort through some thoughts...or make some observations of people I don't normally see on a regular basis.

When I first got to the pool, the elder set was doing their hydro-cize, a sort of gentle bobbing and walking through the water, designed for the geriatric set. They look like they're having a great time, with lots of laughter, as they move around in a circle at the shallow end of the pool.

During the hour that I swam, these ladies gave way to the Mommy/Baby set, who also formed their own circle in the water with their ponytails bobbing and their babies clutched in overprotective arms. As I swam back and forth next to them it occurred to me that my generation never had a Mommy and Me swimming lesson time. When it came time for us to learn to swim, we were given a suit, a bath towel and a pair of flip flops (that you wore all summer until they wore out) and pointed in the direction of the town pool. You signed yourself up, as far as I recall, and went there at the appointed hour a couple of times a week. No such thing as holding Mommy's hand and having her do all the work. (Sounds a little curmudgeonly, but I think we were a much more independent generation.)

After my swimming time was finished, I dressed in the locker room surrounded by the old ladies, many of whom were walking around stark nekkid. As far as I know, they're the only age group that does this at the Y (at least that I've seen) and I was kinda proud of them. I overheard one woman say to her companion, "I remember being with my mother-in-law and having to hold her up once in a while to keep her from falling over. Now I'm her!" As she was saying this, she was grabbing on to the locker as she was dressing. The ladies all chuckled and I wanted to join in and say, "Me too!" But I wasn't sure that a 50-something has earned the right to their story...at least not yet.

Perfect way to start the day, wish I could join the old ladies more often. They seem to be having a blast.