The pool is open!  It’s not fancy pants like the “club” we used to belong to, but it’s water.  Because it is a gym for mere mortals, and the pool is shared with a swim school so it’s only 4ft at it’s deepest, I have a hunch I will often have a lane to myself, which makes it even more relaxing – don’t have to worry about bonking heads with anyone. 

My only problem is I wear a snorkel – which means an eye/nose mask as well.  So I come out of the pool with snorkelface: lines all over my face.  When you’re older your skin doesn’t pop back as quickly, especially if you’re dehydrated which I probably usually am, so I walk around for hours with snorkelface.  That would be a good name for an indie rock band, no?

At any rate I’m ecstatic.  I swam 18 laps, which just about killed me, but it still felt great.  I was just about in the zone but my arms said “no mas” especially because I didn’t have my fins or kickboard so there was no rest for the wicked.  Today I didn’t so much go back to my lake in Illinois, but rather pretended I was snorkelling in Hawaii, the sea turtles floating along underneath me.  It was in Hawaii where I realized that I could swim all day long if I used a snorkel. 

I’m going off to the internet to find out if there’s a remedy for snorkelface.  Maybe just drink more water and put better lotion on my face.  I simply can’t walk around the world looking like I fell asleep on a hockey goalie’s mask.