musings on water exercise

Yesterday there was a moment in the water exercise class when I felt myself moving easily and gracefully through the water. This isn't always the case, of course. The class is rigorous and I'm usually scrambling. But in this particular moment, my movements were large and free. It surprised me. In a split second I saw that it was because I was uninhibited. No one could really see my body as I was submerged nearly up to my shoulders - and this invisibility produced a sense of freedom.

And I can't get over how beautiful the water is when we manage to get it restless and sparkling. I don't take my camera to the pool because I don't want to have to deal with watching over it. And what I'm seeing that is so beautiful isn't necessarily something a camera can capture. The camera could grab a moment, or compress several moments - and neither of these is what its all about. And in anycase, I'm quite satisfied to experience it 'real-time' - at least for now.

The music they play at the pool during these sessions is often jarring - even when I enjoy the selections, as I do when it is Aretha Franklin or the Beatles. The problem is that the rhythm of the music always seem at odds with what we are doing in the pool. I'd like to commission work that had poly rhythms so one could entrain with the rhythm that suited one's ability. It is very very strange to be moving one's body to a given rhythm while the Four Tops are cooking along at a different pace. Of course, when it is Olivia Newton John, I just want to close my ears. I wish at least one of the instructors was into silence.