Water Walking for the Apocalypse

Well folks, it finally happened. Governor Kate Brown has moved Multnomah County into Phase 1 of reopening as of Friday. For some people in Portland the 'reopening' of the city was the only thing they celebrated, but June 19th, Juneteenth is so much more (click for link to YouTube video by NextGen America)  Since this is primarily a swimming blog, I won't go into that much about Black Lives Matter... but this is quite possibly the most important thing going on in our country right now and swimmers have a place in the history of excluding of black people from our sport, and that needs to change. I know, I know. You and me, it's not directly our fault that swimming is a predominantly white sport, but it is our fault if we are okay with that continuing. We need to work to include all people in the swim, especially Black people and people of color. Be open, invite friends of friends to join you for a swim. If you're qualified, volunteer to teach swimming in areas that don't have access to free swim instruction. Okay. On to the swim stuff. 

Scattering flowers and sending good intentions. 

                                      

Saturday was the Summer Solstice. Last year at this time my dear friend Amanda and I were on a Swimcation reaching up the I-5 corridor, heading through Seattle and all the way to Whidby Island. This year I had planned to do study abroad in the UK, but then you know... global pandemic and all. So, instead of Seattle or Stonehenge, I celebrated the solstice with a 'swim' at our local beach reading poetry, releasing flowers and good intentions into our river, and snacking by the water. 

Golden Gardens in Seattle with friends on solstice June 21, 2019.

Let me back up a bit. About a month ago now I had a fall on my bike and broke two ribs. Needless to say, swimming isn't exactly possible at the moment but water walking is! Some good has come of my bad luck: we discovered what folks in the UK knew all along- that faffing about in the water is super fun! Walking up the beach and floating back down isn't swimming exactly, but something else entirely that is just as much fun if not more! At our local urban beach, it takes about 25 minutes to walk 500m and 2-3 minutes to float back. The best part is since the water is warming up and is currently 62 F it is hard to get a good shiver on. But! By walking leisurely I am able to a nice little chill on. Sadly, I am not able to get cold enough to get proper cold and get all the happy brain chemicals I get from colder temps. Hopefully, in about two weeks I'll be testing the waters with a "real" swim. Until then, I look forward to more water walking for the apocalypse! 




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