Dog days

It's Saturday morning, and I'm sitting through a short break during our second swim meet of the very short summer swim season.  One more meet, then Divisionals, and then the season is over.

We don't normally have breaks during the meet but the three session formal made necessary by the damn' rona makes it also necessary to allow short breaks for the swimmers, because the sessions are organized by age group, and the events go so quickly that they need recovery time before their next race. So I am killing the usual two birds with the usual one stone by writing while I wait for the freestyle event to begin. I'm a stroke and turn judge, and there's not much for me to do during freestyle, but I will put the phone down and stand up with my clipboard so these kids will know that I know what's up.

*****
OK, that was fast. Freestyle is over and now we're waiting for the breaststroke events, which is where we stroke and turn judges make our money. It's what they call a technical stroke. There's a lot to watch. A lot of things can go wrong.

*****
I never did finish writing about the meet, which is over now, because it’s Sunday. After I wrote disqualification slips for a few breaststrokers, I was comparatively idle for the rest of the morning. Of course, I took my officiating duties very seriously, but the rest of the events proceeded without incident. The breaststroke swimmers probably alerted their peers that a sharp-eyed official had her eye on them, and they minded their P’s and Q’s. There were a few borderline backstroke turns, but I let them slide. I’m stern, but fair. It was the hottest day of the summer so far (although it might get hotter today); and after four hours in the sun, I came home and slept in my cool, dark family room.

I myself will be swimming later this evening, but as it’s too hot even for me right now, I’m staying inside until it’s time to go to the pool. I’m almost finished with Elizabeth I, and then I will be skipping ahead a century and a half to read Ron Chernow’s famous biography of Alexander Hamilton. I can read about people doing things and accomplishing things, but I’m not actually going to do anything or accomplish anything myself until the temperature drops a few degrees.