Madrona T-Dock
There are many things I love about swimming in Lake Washington: its ready accessibility; the way you feel connected to endless summers bygone and yet to be; the semi-nastiness of water when you consider all the goose poop, human fecal coliform, and gasoline in it; but maybe my favorite aspect of all is when you get to the end of the Madrona T-Dock and there’s that sign on the railing that says, “No Swimming or Diving” right at the spot where you dive off to swim.
Today was a bonus summer day: we roasted in the sun at Mimi’s soccer game and the perfect accompaniment was one last dip in the lake, a coda, of sorts, to a summer that has been frighteningly lovely in the “what did I ever do to deserve this?” kind of gratitude sense, made more poignant by the understanding that either we may never get this kind of weather again, or worse, that it’s a harbinger of what’s to come with human-induced global climate change.
But no sense in fretting on such a perfect late-summer afternoon; a couple of three beers, a Husky football win!, and relaxed conversation around a shimmering body of water hardly two miles from your house; What? Me worry?
I’m freaked, of course, about the upcoming advent of school, and, as usual, wonder how in the world I’ll resume playing the part of a responsible, contributing member of society in the 21st century, but this afternoon, in the water—chilly as it was—all those concerns melted away and I could pretend, for a while, anyway, that summer will never end—not until that giant asteroid hits the earth in 2012, anyway, and puts us all out of our collective miseries.
The hard part, of course, is the ride back up the hill; we were hoping to skitch a ride on somebody’s car, but no such luck; still, no complaints; a small price to pay for the water.
Today was a bonus summer day: we roasted in the sun at Mimi’s soccer game and the perfect accompaniment was one last dip in the lake, a coda, of sorts, to a summer that has been frighteningly lovely in the “what did I ever do to deserve this?” kind of gratitude sense, made more poignant by the understanding that either we may never get this kind of weather again, or worse, that it’s a harbinger of what’s to come with human-induced global climate change.
But no sense in fretting on such a perfect late-summer afternoon; a couple of three beers, a Husky football win!, and relaxed conversation around a shimmering body of water hardly two miles from your house; What? Me worry?
I’m freaked, of course, about the upcoming advent of school, and, as usual, wonder how in the world I’ll resume playing the part of a responsible, contributing member of society in the 21st century, but this afternoon, in the water—chilly as it was—all those concerns melted away and I could pretend, for a while, anyway, that summer will never end—not until that giant asteroid hits the earth in 2012, anyway, and puts us all out of our collective miseries.
The hard part, of course, is the ride back up the hill; we were hoping to skitch a ride on somebody’s car, but no such luck; still, no complaints; a small price to pay for the water.
posted by Professor Dave at 5:43 PM
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