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Jul. 16th, 2006 08:15 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tylikOn the way back from Taiji, I stopped by REI and picked up some goggles (and totally failed to find a new lumbar pack, but more on that later). I've gone swimming a few more times, but glasses suck, and my vision sucks even worse. I might yet shell out for presciption goggles, but the ones I got + contacts work nicely. (Goggle technology has improved since last I wore them). One of my neighbors has given me permission to scramble out of the water on his section of the dock, which is closer to the water, and means I can avoid another skinned elbow. So, I'm set.
I'm definately a lot more comfortable in the water without glasses. I think swimming is definately a good thing for me right now, working my upper body with a nice full range of movement. I haven't lost my comfort in the water, but it was odd how some of the more straightforward strokes were a bit off. It took a while to get the rhythm of my breathing right for breast and crawl. And sometimes my balance seemed a little off... which I suspect was mostly due to my being more bouyant than was the case in my teens. *sigh* I didn't try butterfly at all, figuring that I would only disgrace myself, but I might try to work up to it.
When I was in my early teens and swum competitively, butterfly was what I competed in. I wasn't particularly competitive about swimming, but swim team meant I could spend a lot more time swimming, and none of the other girls liked butterfly. (It's the kind of thing you win a lot in, but mostly by default.) As I have the genetic quirk that lets me bulk up more than most women, when I was twelve I had arms and shoulders that match my current calves and thighs. Which would be amusing to try for again, but probably not realistic considering my schedule. And I taught a bit (actually, I was teaching swim lessons when I was ten) and then I took synchronized swimming.
BTW, if you ever have a chance to take synchronized swimming, do take it. While yes, you learn how to do silly things like support yourself in the water in such a way as that you can do an inverted split, the core of what you learn, at least at first, is more ways to move and do all kinds of stuff in the water. If lap swimming is running, then sychronized swimming is gymnastics. And you learn a lot of how to be comfortable and not expend energy in the water, too, which is useful.
The water around the boat is cloudy and green (much more obvious when you are wearing goggles) and even though it was futile I found myself not wanting to swim too close to the areas frequented by the canadian geese. But it was still glorious, and walking down the dock dripping wet and picking ripe blackberries from the bushes on the bank is pretty fine too. Not to mention sitting on the bench in the sun and drying off while reading food history andgloating over admiring the garden. (I really need to pick my first zucchini or two.) I suspect I will spend most of the rest of the day lounging around wearing my swimsuit and a sarong, cooking and reading and maybe getting some real writing done.
It's nice occaisionally to have a day that your twelve year or self would utterly approve of. Actually, I think she'd haver fewer qualms about my current life than I do, though she'd think I should be spending more time writing fiction. Which reminds me how much I'm not twelve.
So, on to silly consumer things. My lumbar pack / purse / bag of many things has been falling apart. I've been trying to replace it. REI fails. Or I do. I'm going to continue to keep my eyes open, but for the moment I'm going back to my Lowe Alpine bag that the current Mountainsmith bag replaced. After some years of use, the Lowe bag is in much better shape than the Mountainsmith bag is after one. Feh.
And as long as I'm writing about that, a few weeks ago I picked up my old favorite pair of black crochet back fingerless biking gloves. I've had them for years, and I really did adore them. Yes, this is silly. Nevertheless. I was seriously thinking of writing a post about just how much I liked them, and how I liked how they looked on my hands.
And then the webbing between most of the fingers shredded, all at once. I looked them over with an eye to repair, but it became more and more clear that they were doomed. So, reluctantly, I replaced them. Did you know that bicycle gloves come in genders? Really. And the women's gloves all sucked very much. Luckily my hands aren't so small that men's don't fit me. So I have replaced my old gloves with very similar gloves, which still do not charm me nearly so much, but perhaps I will get used to them. Probably about the time they are ready to fall apart.
Some years ago, K. leant me a pair of sunglasses that fit over one's regular glasses. And even looked pretty decent. Having fought many battles of glasses and clip-ons, I was an immediate convert, and went out and bought a pair. REI promptly stopped carrying the style.
So I have this old $12 pair of sunglasses that are perfect, so much so that I spent rather more than that putting new lenses in them last year. They are increasingly battered. I keep looking for others that will work similarly. Today I found some... for $35. Which isn't that bad. But I didn't get them anyway. (They were also kind of silly, though overall flattering.)
Someday, though, I will discover another source of decent sunglasses.
I'm definately a lot more comfortable in the water without glasses. I think swimming is definately a good thing for me right now, working my upper body with a nice full range of movement. I haven't lost my comfort in the water, but it was odd how some of the more straightforward strokes were a bit off. It took a while to get the rhythm of my breathing right for breast and crawl. And sometimes my balance seemed a little off... which I suspect was mostly due to my being more bouyant than was the case in my teens. *sigh* I didn't try butterfly at all, figuring that I would only disgrace myself, but I might try to work up to it.
When I was in my early teens and swum competitively, butterfly was what I competed in. I wasn't particularly competitive about swimming, but swim team meant I could spend a lot more time swimming, and none of the other girls liked butterfly. (It's the kind of thing you win a lot in, but mostly by default.) As I have the genetic quirk that lets me bulk up more than most women, when I was twelve I had arms and shoulders that match my current calves and thighs. Which would be amusing to try for again, but probably not realistic considering my schedule. And I taught a bit (actually, I was teaching swim lessons when I was ten) and then I took synchronized swimming.
BTW, if you ever have a chance to take synchronized swimming, do take it. While yes, you learn how to do silly things like support yourself in the water in such a way as that you can do an inverted split, the core of what you learn, at least at first, is more ways to move and do all kinds of stuff in the water. If lap swimming is running, then sychronized swimming is gymnastics. And you learn a lot of how to be comfortable and not expend energy in the water, too, which is useful.
The water around the boat is cloudy and green (much more obvious when you are wearing goggles) and even though it was futile I found myself not wanting to swim too close to the areas frequented by the canadian geese. But it was still glorious, and walking down the dock dripping wet and picking ripe blackberries from the bushes on the bank is pretty fine too. Not to mention sitting on the bench in the sun and drying off while reading food history and
It's nice occaisionally to have a day that your twelve year or self would utterly approve of. Actually, I think she'd haver fewer qualms about my current life than I do, though she'd think I should be spending more time writing fiction. Which reminds me how much I'm not twelve.
So, on to silly consumer things. My lumbar pack / purse / bag of many things has been falling apart. I've been trying to replace it. REI fails. Or I do. I'm going to continue to keep my eyes open, but for the moment I'm going back to my Lowe Alpine bag that the current Mountainsmith bag replaced. After some years of use, the Lowe bag is in much better shape than the Mountainsmith bag is after one. Feh.
And as long as I'm writing about that, a few weeks ago I picked up my old favorite pair of black crochet back fingerless biking gloves. I've had them for years, and I really did adore them. Yes, this is silly. Nevertheless. I was seriously thinking of writing a post about just how much I liked them, and how I liked how they looked on my hands.
And then the webbing between most of the fingers shredded, all at once. I looked them over with an eye to repair, but it became more and more clear that they were doomed. So, reluctantly, I replaced them. Did you know that bicycle gloves come in genders? Really. And the women's gloves all sucked very much. Luckily my hands aren't so small that men's don't fit me. So I have replaced my old gloves with very similar gloves, which still do not charm me nearly so much, but perhaps I will get used to them. Probably about the time they are ready to fall apart.
Some years ago, K. leant me a pair of sunglasses that fit over one's regular glasses. And even looked pretty decent. Having fought many battles of glasses and clip-ons, I was an immediate convert, and went out and bought a pair. REI promptly stopped carrying the style.
So I have this old $12 pair of sunglasses that are perfect, so much so that I spent rather more than that putting new lenses in them last year. They are increasingly battered. I keep looking for others that will work similarly. Today I found some... for $35. Which isn't that bad. But I didn't get them anyway. (They were also kind of silly, though overall flattering.)
Someday, though, I will discover another source of decent sunglasses.
