It felt strange not to go to the gym and swim this morning. Except for a statewide virus shutdown in November, I had pretty much been there every weekday morning to swim between 30 and 60 minutes since September. And for the past few months, I’d been there Monday through Friday to swim at 6:00 am, after I had run the dogs and then been on my run.
While I am ready for the summer routine– to swim in the afternoon sun and let the dogs run around the pool (after Ash announces to all the neighbors that I’ve gotten into to the pool)– I was sad Friday because it was like the end of the school year.
I know I’ll be back there in late September, but I also know that things won’t be the same because going to the gym each morning for the swim as part of how I coped with the pandemic.
All those mornings I had a community of people talk to, to lament the weather, the temperature of the pool water, and the world events that swirled around us. I find so much peace in the water, it’s almost as if nothing can bother me while I swim (except maybe the person in the lane next to me, but I won’t delve into that today).
I don’t function as well in the winter. While I’m really not an outdoor sports person, I do need to be outside and that’s why I run in the bitter cold, even though I’m slow because it’s harder to breathe and I hate the time it takes to bundle myself up and then remove the bundle when I’m done.
Swimming outside in a heated pool helped me not just cope with the cold months, but the pandemic as well. There is something about being alive in the cold, the darkness, and seeing the stars, the planets, and the moon. I could feel alive and be reminded of the wonders of life and our world. And those sunrises! There were two brilliant ones; this photo is of one of them.
But it’s time for change. My body is ready to sleep a little later in the morning and my mind is ready to finish the workday with a swim. This also allows me to write earlier in the morning, giving me more time to focus on the quality of my writing rather than just trying to tap out a quantity each day.
Change is good, it means moving forward. But it’s also hard to leave behind something that I know brought me so much peace through many challenges. Still, in the back of my mind, I have to remind myself that the pool will be there for me when the temperatures start to dip in the fall.
Just like an old friend, the stable kind who lets you and come and go as you need to.