#NewThisDay Writing From My Photo Stream
The bank curved under its crown of forget-me-nots; They shone like blue jewels from the further shore. And they were free! I could have had them all To gather and to carry in my arms!
~ Excerpt from Forget-Me-Nots, Jean Starr Untermeyer
Only a short walk for Charlie; he doesn’t complain. My son needs a ride to pick up a car rental while his is repaired. I’m happy to get the time with him to catch up. And I have a swim planned for mid-day. It’s a day pressed with errands and driving people places and all that, BUT, the swim I make the time for is all mine, all for me. I think I might do the perimeter, but I don’t have all the time I need. My youngest comes with me, and that’s a happy treat. We set off in the sunshine in the cool water from the boat dock. The route we take is not my usual. I think about how satisfying it is to be out in the pond alone together making our way around the island and toward the pump house on the other shore. I find myself wondering what it would have been like for me as a daughter if my mother had been a swimmer who loved going on long swims with me. I cannot imagine being out in the deep water alone with my mother. I reach the pump house a bit after my daughter who has already started back across the middle of the pond. I follow who, feeling strong and happy, stroke and stroke, and breath and breath, and I’m thinking how much I’m enjoying this swim when I realize, I have swum in a circle and I’m back at the pump house! Well, this isn’t my normal route, and there are no markers out here in the middle. I laugh at myself, and course correct. But it’s a long way across after all. I meet my daughter on shore, and we’re both tired. I’ve gone about a mile-and-a-quarter and my legs are tired. But so are hers. I have to rush off to an errand, but I’m so happy we’ve had our time on this fabulous July day. My brother calls me in the late afternoon to see if I want to swim! I laugh and say no, next time. And we make a plan to swim the perimeter together soon.