Friday, May 11, 2012

Fifty 50's on :50

Fifty 50's on :50

Go on, say it five times fast. Or maybe fifty. You know you want to..... But you definitely don't want to swim them.

That's right folks, 50x 50 on :50 is 2,500 meters (or yards- depending on the pool) in 41 minutes (or thereabouts) I don't really think it's so much of a test of speed as it is a test of will, but swimming it once in your life is really enough. Tonight I almost had to swim it twice.... but lucky me, I'd already been swimming/playing water polo for just about an hour and a half, so I made it two hours and got out early. That's what happens when you're late to one practice and stay into another one (sorry coaches!!)

But what I really wanted to write about was water polo!!

It must be a very fun game, if you're ten feet tall and don't mind getting hit with the ball. I tend to squeek when things start flying, so it was interesting from the start. And then I played goalie. I knew (going into it) that goalie would be a slightly more hazardous position, but it was either that or get run over by tree people two times my size, weight, and muscle mass. So I opted to get hit with fast-moving balls. I hadn't been goalie for two minutes before I was deflecting balls with my whole body, arms flailing, looking like a drowning fish. Have you ver seen a fish drown? It's not pretty.

Over all I had a wonderful time, and I have decided that my goal for the future is to play water polo and not look like I was drowing.... or something like that.

The life lessons here are:

1. If you want your swimmers to love you, let them play water polo
2. If you want your swimmes to run away (yes, actually run) in fear, give them the 50x 50 on :50 set
3. If you love to swim, even swimming with dead rats (just don't ask- we didn't see it until we had gotten out) won't seem all that horrible.

Swimming in lakes though? That's a totally different story.......

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

"If you are a dreamer, come in"

Invitation by Shel Silverstein


"If you are a dreamer, come in,
If you are a dreamer, a wisher, a liar,
A hope-er, a pray-er, a magic bean buyer...
If you're a pretender, come sit by my fire
For we have some flax-golden tales to spin.
Come in!
Come in!"


I spent the afternoon today playing games with the girl I am lucky enough to babysit. In reality, watching her is like a playdate with a younger version of myself, only cooler. She makes me smile and laugh and says the most ridiculous things imaginable about tornadoes and monkeys and.... Well, everything.

Today we played the "guess the poem's name" game. We took turns reading a poem (from "Where the Sidewalk Ends" by Shel Silverstein, of course) aloud and then quizzing each other on their names. It was wonderfully fun, and some of our guesses were so bizarre (mine mostly) that it was lucky we were sitting on yoga mats-- we were rolling on the floor laughing in a matter of minutes. It was such pure, simple fun that I began to wonder how people watch TV or play video games- the outdoor world is so amazing, and a book can take you anywhere in the universe.

People as a society don't dream nearly enough, and we certainly don't look with curiosity to find where the sidewalk ends.

So dream. Explore. Discover. Find the name of the poem, or make one up of your own!


"If you are a dreamer, come in"