First Swim 2022

Covid hit in Spring 2020, so my apartment pool was closed all summer.
2021: My apartment pool was open for about a month, then repairs were needed, and then Covid became a "thing" again, so it was closed for most of that summer season.

2022: Just had my first swim today! Aaaaahhhhh!

My apartment is, for the most part, dark and gloomy. One side is up against the maintenance room, so no windows. The front has a big window with another bank of apartments about 10 ft away and a sidewalk in front----so I can only raise my shades about 2 ft so frequent passers-by can't look right in. The back has a patio and sliding-glass door/blinds--but neighbors on that side are only about 15 ft away, and one guy is always out there smoking, sitting on the low wall and directly staring into my backyard---so I hate going out there (I try to water my outside plants at very early hours, when I know that creep isn't going to be out there).

In short, I've been starved for sunlight and fresh air! (not to mention moonlight and stars---don't yet know how to find those again)

What I remembered from pre-2020 remained true today, when I went to the apartment pool for the first time in years: Get out there around 11am, before the hoi polloi show up! :)

Sure enough: From 11am until about 12:30pm, I had the pool completely to myself. I got to splash around and do brief strokes and float on my back with the sun red through eyelids and imagining "a salvaged pearl in each tight palm." Alternated with sunning myself in a chair and reading from my stack of 2016 New Yorkers (left over from before I cancelled my subscription that election year).

Around 12:30, a tattooed, dyed-hair, very pale couple showed up, with a mutual phone and loud music emanating from it. The boy stayed under an umbrella with his phone. The girl sat on the steps in the shallow end and occasionally ceremoniously bent over and dipped her purple hair in the water.

A few minutes later, a dad and his screaming, running-around kid showed up, with water-shooting toys.

A few minutes later, I  retreated back to my apartment. But after an hour-and-a-half of peace and swimming and breathing fresh air! My pallid body needed that sun! My creaky body needed that movement of body parts in the water! I felt GREAT afterwards!