Floating

There's something marvelous about being chubby that never occurred to me until today--it makes it really easy to float in the pool! I guess I'd never noticed it before because I'm more of an ocean swimmer, but it was so relaxing to float around in the deserted pool at my parents' condo complex tonight. No one but me and the adolescent lifeguard who was busy texting away on a tiny phone...

I swam dozens of laps. She got tired of watching me when she realized that I was quite possibly the slowest swimmer in the world. I'd make my way down the length of the pool, touch the edge with my fingertips, then flip on my back to float back down to the shallow end, propelled only by the intermittent flutterings of my arms and legs. When I was close to hitting my head on the bright blue tiled wall in the 4' end, I'd head out and do another. Over and over again, thinking about nothing but how blue the sky was and how perfectly cool pool water is, I spent an hour or so getting back in touch with the Esther Williams in me.

Only too soon, it was closing time, and I wrapped my blue and green sarong around my waist. I hadn't worn it or my plain black swimsuit since Thailand in November. I wonder why and flip flop my way upstairs.