James Curran: Swim.
Tag: swim
Lightly Child, Lightly.
I am floating on a blue rubber raft. My eyes are closed, face to the sun. Black motes dance around under my eyelids in the opaque red. I drift, listen to the sound of my breath going in and out, let the salt wind carry me to the middle of the pond. There is nothing but me. No one here but me. A perfect moment. I dangle my arm over the edge of the raft, open my fingers, feel the resistance of the water as it passes through them.
— Miranda Cowley Heller, The Paper Palace: A Novel (Riverhead Books, July 6, 2021)
Notes:
- Debut novel. Book, highly recommended.
- NY Times Book Review: Summer After Summer, a Clan Returns to Cape Cod
- Post Title & Inspiration: Aldous Huxley: “It’s dark because you are trying too hard. Lightly child, lightly. Learn to do everything lightly. Yes, feel lightly even though you’re feeling deeply. Just lightly let things happen and lightly cope with them.”
TGIF: Morning Swim
Daybreak. Mallard & her ducklings, in formation. 5:53 am. June 12, 2020. 67° F. Wind: 4 mph. Gusts: 8 mph. Cloud Cover: 73%. Special Weather Watch: Areas of dense fog locally early this morning. Weed Ave, Stamford, CT.
T.G.I.F.: Silver Lining
Eva Creel (Hirschau, Bayern, Germany) with Silver Lining. “Underwater above and somewhere in between. I’m a photographer. My goal is to suck a little less with every shoot.”
With you Rachel
The water in the creek is often surprisingly warm. After the first shock, it is easy to stay in. It is perhaps thirty metres long and I swim fast and methodically up and down. I don’t like to talk or mess around when I’m swimming; or it might be more accurate to say that I can’t imagine being able to mess around, can’t imagine being free from my own rules and ambitions, and more accurate still to say that I’m frightened of what might happen if I were. Instead I set myself a target and count the lengths. My husband dives in and swims for a little while, slowly, without particular direction. Then he turns over and lies on his back and floats, looking at the sky.
~ Rachel Cusk, in Coventry (Farrar, Straus and Giroux. September 16, 2019)
Note: Photo Gif via poppins-me
Live & Learn 