This is a big f*&^ing deal

It’s 4:30 on Monday afternoon, and I’m watching the sky. It was hot today, blazing hot and densely humid, and that’s the way I like it. And I’m thinking about how often I watch the sky at this time on a hot summer’s day, trying to figure out if the rumble that I just heard was thunder; and if it was thunder, will it be a big storm or just a passing shower with a little flash of lightning here and there.

That was definitely thunder.

Anyway, I’m watching the sky as I so often do late on a summer afternoon because I have a pool reservation at 6 and I’m hoping that whatever this is will pass before 6. Yes, the pool is open and even though there are a ton of rules and restrictions and I have to reserve a lap lane in advance, this is still so much better than what I expected, which was to have no pool at all this year.

Yesterday, I went swimming for the first time this summer. I called ahead and reserved a lane (“Oh hi, Mrs. P--I thought that was you,” said the lifeguard who answered the phone). Then I appeared at the duly appointed time, wearing a facemask and ready to hand in my signed liability waiver. With paperwork and precautions out of the way, I proceeded to my assigned spot on the deck, deposited my bag and towel and slid right into the slightly-too-cold water and began swimming. It was hard, because I haven’t been in the water in months. But for half an hour or so, I got to be nothing more than a body moving through the water. If I close my eyes, I still feel like I’m floating.