It’s Saturday morning, Memorial Day weekend, and I haven’t even packed my pool bag yet. This is not like me, not like me at all. I’m not feeling summery. The vibe is off.
And it’s not just the weather - but my gosh! I sat outside this morning, drinking my coffee and reading my book and enjoying the birdsong even though it was 55 degrees and I needed a hoodie and fuzzy socks and a blanket. I could have just stayed inside but it’s Memorial Day weekend and it was the first morning in weeks when I didn’t have to rush and I was determined to enjoy a leisurely half hour outside, even if it killed me.
But I’m back inside now. It’s 10:08 and I need to come up with a plan. I think I’ll pack my pool bag. There’s almost no chance that I’ll actually get in the water today but I’m not ruling it out, either. I’m a member of the neighborhood’s small but hardy group of adult pool rats, and if the rest of the crew gets in that water, then I might have to do it too.
*****
A few of us made our way to the pool yesterday afternoon, but only two adults actually got in the water - one of my fellow pool rats, and another person whom I don’t yet know. A new swim team dad, apparently - I overheard him talking to his little girl about how she’ll have to get in on Wednesday, the first day of practice, so she might as well get in today. And she did, and so he did too. The other person, a fellow summer lap swimmer, sat on the edge of that pool dangling his feet for so long that I thought he’d given up the idea of actually jumping into a pool full of ice water, but he did finally get in, and he didn’t even try to convince the rest of us that it’s fine once you get in because it so obviously was not.
It’s warmer this morning, this being Sunday. I still wore a sweater and socks when I sat outside, but I didn’t need the blanket. I still don’t think I’ll get in the water today, but if the warming trend continues, I might swim tomorrow.
*****
At some point during Memorial Day weekend, I try to watch a Memorial Day-appropriate movie. I’ve seen “Saving Private Ryan” about a dozen times. I also like “The Best Years of Our Lives.” “Platoon” and “Full Metal Jacket” are also good MDW movies. But I wanted to watch something I hadn’t seen before, and until this weekend, I’d never seen “The Deer Hunter.” It’s quite good, though I couldn’t sit through the full 3-plus hours all at once. I ended up watching it in stages, 30 or so minutes at a time. I have a lot of questions about “The Deer Hunter,” and a lot of things to say about it. I’m going to write a post just about that movie. You’ll see it next week or a year from now.
I also watched “Small Things Like These,” a movie adaptation of Claire Keegan’s brilliant novel. The movie is very very good (and how could it not be with a cast that includes Cillian Murphy and Emily Watson and Eileen Walsh and Clare Dunne), and the abrupt ending is exactly right. Knowing what we know about Eileen and her fear of outsider status for herself and her family, we can’t expect a happily ever after ending for Sarah, and it seems quite likely that Eileen will try to throw her out as soon as she discovers what Bill has done. But Bill takes that risk anyway - a small thing, trying to save just one girl when there are so many others in Sarah’s position - but most of us can only do small things.
*****
It’s Monday now. I love the Monday of a three-day weekend. An extra day off is such a gift, even if it’s too cold to swim. I’m thinking about trying today, though - two more of my swimming friends did it yesterday, and I don’t want to wait until the water warms up because it’s not going to warm up anytime soon. But if I can’t steel myself to the water today, it will still have been a weekend of book shopping (Barnes and Noble with a Mothers’ Day gift card), movies, reading and writing outdoors, sushi, wine drinking with friends, and almost no Trump. And now it’s summer - and as always, I have no problems that summer cannot solve.
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