I swam every day but one this week. It’s February in Cayman, the water has plummeted all the way down to 28⁰ C. (That’s 82⁰F, but hey! I’m climatizado!)

I’ve been thinking about olden days when I was a wee lad, taking and teaching senior life-saving classes, swimming in the Boy Scouts Lake Thunderbird, being a lifeguard, teaching swimming lessons, and swimming in the Moose Lodge pool at lunch in Virginia.

I’ve been swimming my whole life. This post is about that feeling after you jump, before you hit the water. That eeeeeee! silent scream that you can’t tell if it is terror or glee.

When you’re jumping in the water because you’re taking a class, or you’re jumping in the water because you’re teaching one, even if you’re just swimming for the fun of it, it’s the same. You kinda don’t wanna get in but you gotta and once you do, you’re glad you did!

And you jump, and for a second, you remember every time you jumped in your life previously, that unique place where you’re falling and waiting.and anticipating.

And then you hit, the water rushing all around you, the momentary chill, exhilaration and feeling like a smile and the happiness. It’s indescribably wonderful. It’s more than a human sensation I think, it’s mammalian. Its interstellar.

And it’s the same whether you wanted to swim or didn’t want to swim before the jump.

For the first second it’s cold, it’s always cold whether it’s the crisp April morning swimming pool of the Missouri lifeguard or the February Caribbean Sea in the Cayman Islands.

It’s odd, it’s an enjoyable “I don’t want to get wet, but it’s too late now!” during that drop. Maybe because after you jump, and before you hit, you can’t possibly know how cold the water’s really going to be.

It’s sort of like a reluctance to move from one world to another, but once we’re in that other world, we’re so happy to be there!

Its time travel . maybe , we jump, and while we’re falling, it’s always the same .moment in our lives, no year, no age, just the same cosmic moment. Then splash! We return to our normal timeline.

Does anybody know that feeling except for me? There’s a unique sensation that goes along with the days first plunge!

Do you know what I mean?

Happy Friday, Have a great day!

this morning I took an excellent picture of Scorpius, the zodiac sign, the scorpion. At least I think it’s excellent!

Above is the picture I took this morning. Below is the same picture after I’ve drawn this scorpion on there for you.

I know, very unimpressive. But to me it’s cool as beans.

Below is another depiction of scorpius, I’m sure you’ll agree my drawing is much better!

have a great Thursday!

I really enjoyed this book.
A giant spacecraft (freakin’ GIANT) swings by our solar system on what at first seems like a comet-like orbit. Humans, who already habitate most of the solid planets and the moons of the gas ones, are able to go aboard and find an almost planet sized interior.
As the spacecraft nears the sun, things start thawing out and heating up!
Five stars! A must read!

Today is my Mom’s 90th Birthday!

Oh, and I came back to add these pictures of the moon from this morning

And from yesterday .

Enjoy your day!

Im signed up and paid up. I start Friday.

Did I say my Open Swims Pro headphones weren’t worth it? I take it back, I’m loving them more and more. It is so cool to have music while swimming!

Have.a great Day!!

It seems like I’ve entered another period of poor sleep. I woke up at 2:30 both nights this weekend, walking the dog this morning, I felt like laying down on the side of the road and going to sleep. In bed I’m wide awake when I’m up I’m ready to pass out.

Today will be an extra coffee day.

The other day I posted this post, two days, for the most part identical in content.

Why can’t I “force” myself to be in a good mood? Why can’t I “force” myself to be happy?

Can you? Can anybody?

During those two days I had the awareness that the days were basically the same, and I wanted to change my mood, but I was unable.

there was no reason, really, on either day, for me to be happy or sad. Why did I feel one way one day and different the next day? What can I do about it?

What do you do about it?

Happy Friday have a great weekend!

I upgraded from the Open Run Pro to the Open Swim Pro. It’s pretty cool, having music while I swim

The difference between the Open Run and Open Swim is the open swims are more waterproof and they have internal memory so the headphones can have their own music on board. (Bluetooth from your phone that’s in your car won’t work when you’re swimming far away)

In hindsight , it wasn’t worth the upgrade. Having music while I swim is cool, but not all that great. The bubbles I make are pretty noisy too.

if I didn’t have these Shokz headphones, and was buying them for the first time, I would buy the Open Swim Pro headphones over the Open Run. But in hindsight, I wouldn’t upgrade from the Open Run Pro just for the music in the water.

Many years ago, I got to test out an underwater MP3 player that was good to 200 ft. Now that was cool, music while scuba diving. The Open Swims are only good to two meters underwater.

But I do love the Shockz bone conducting headphones.

Happy Thursday! I think Thursdays were invented by some sadist just to drag it out one more day…..

I enjoyed this book. It gave a lot of information about the life of trees. That they communicate with each other, they can learn,
.
Four stars because I think the author humanized trees a bit much. For example, if a tree falls over, the decision to rot and turn to mulch is the trees conscious thought. However people seem to think human animal is much more important than plant life, and I’m not sure I agree with that.

There is tons of good information. A lot of it reminded me of the beginning of the movie Avatar, when Sigourney Weaver is explaining her discoveries in the forest.
It was a pretty cool book.

happy hump day!

Hopefully I’m on the last throes of my back ache. I had a good exercise session this morning, just like before I hurt my back. It’s been more than a month. I went to the doctor, I went to physical therapy, and I did everything that someone should have done when they hurt their back.

it all started a long time ago, cleaning under my coffee table. I was sitting cross legged on the floor and leaned forward with a stack of magazines to put them under the coffee table, and click! something gave way in my back. Since then I have re-hurt it several times, usually minor. This last time, I had a minor injury and then I lifted a box that was too heavy and really ripped it out. That was more than a month ago, and I’m just now getting back to normal.

I’m going to have to be more careful from now on, as I keep getting older.

Saturday I had a wonderful day, I stayed home and rested, took naps, I read my book, did a little housework and gave some attention to my dog and my plants. It was a very pleasing day.

Sunday was horrible. I stayed home and rested, took naps, I read my book, did a little housework and gave some attention to my dog and my plants. It was torturous.

I’m not sure I’m going to be able to handle retirement.