One of my most relaxing afternoons in Volterra was when I wandered down to a community fitness club, bought myself a pool pass, orange bathing cap and matching goggles, and had a nice long swim in the Piscina Comunale.
I later described how happy it'd made me in Italian, and I said it was similar to "esistire nel cielo" which vaguely meant "to be in heaven" (in the sense of floating in the sky). My lab mates heard it as "existential healing," which is probably a little closer to what I was really saying.
While I was swimming, the sun was setting, and I was watching the amazing colors dance on the bottom of the pool through pristine clear water. Even if my swimming involved a lot of dead man's floating and labored breathing, it was one of the most relaxing workouts I've ever had.
This evening my mother and I went to check out the pool at a nearby university, and we were immediately greeted with the wet smell of chlorine which pervaded so many childhood mornings for me.
I used to swim all the time, with swim classes every day in kindergarten, swim team all summer and even a few years in the winter too. I taught stroke clinics to younger swimmers, I constantly drilled myself and perfected my backstroke, and for years I was more comfortable in the water than on land.
The pool is closed tomorrow and Saturday, but come Sunday morning, you will find me once again in a Speedo, latex cap, and ill-fitting goggles, gasping over a kickboard and trying to get back into the swim of things. I hope I find my existential healing again.
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