Just Keep Swimming

When you swim in a lane next to someone it’s a race. You can pretend it isn’t, but lehz be honest… it is.

And let’s just say, I’m a tortoise in a pool full of rabbits (that was a bad example, oh well – its late – can’t turn back now). Basically – I’m slow. Like really, really, extremely the opposite of fast.

I enjoy swimming. I don’t enjoy being the slowest person in the pool, but I like to swim all the same.

And today, ladies and gentlemen, was a very special day. Today, for the first time (probably in my entire life) I was not the slowest person in the rec pool (it’s a great feeling).

This chick in the lane next to me was SO SLOW. So we raced, we’ll I raced, and I won, every time. I was exuberant! (mad vocab skillz right dur). If trash talking in the rec pool were a thing (which it is in my head), I would have been all like, “man girl you swim like an old lady” (maybe it’s a good thing I don’t trash talk out loud – I’m not really good at it).  

So I did thirty laps (ok, I only did 20, it’s been a long week). And literally (like legitimately) I won every race, all 20 of them. I was proud. Prouder than Columbus, when he thought he found Asia.

But then, the unthinkable happened. We both got out of the pool around the same time (she was a little behind me – cause, remember, I won every race). I glanced over. She took off her swim cap and goggles, and...

Let me tell you, long brown locks did not flow down her back. No. This chick’s (or should I say, mother hen’s) hair was gray. I’m not talking about that speckled gray-ish – brown-ish, in-between phase. I’m talking full-fledged clouds on a rainy day, gray.

How did I not realize that the person I was “racing” against is probably three times my age? I was as wrong as Columbus. But something did come out of these conquests, I won 20 races, and Columbus found a new continent (which is pretty cool, I guess). 

Honestly, I’m still proud of myself. I should get like an award or something, right? I mean winning 20 races in a row, that's a lot.

--ASH

Side Note: We’ve all heard the saying “In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue,” but what if he didn’t? What if some rich, high-up-there political man decided to tweak the date, so that it would be easier to remember? How would we know? Weird.