it’s amazing how many more interesting weekends this summer has contained now that i don’t work most saturdays. (i’ve also visited the farmer’s market less frequently, but i can make do)
this past weekend, a friend generously opened up his family’s lake house to us for a visit. what a wonderful time we had! i drove up by myself on thursday night (due to a last-minute miscommunication…long, unimportant story) and survived the six-hour trek rather well considering that it was the longest independent driving trip i’ve ever made (hooray for feeling independent!). i also enjoyed a stop at the norske nook for amazing, mile-high pie. the next morning, i went outside and got my first glimpse of the lake. there’s something soul-stirringly lovely about looking at a lake while standing on private property (that you have permission to be on). the weekend was a blur of yummy food (made all the more tasty by days full of swimming in the lake), boating in a variety of crafts, and being in my swimsuit all day long. a few highlights included a run with two friends (who happen to be male and who can run faster than me, but who politely held themselves back until the last 100 yards or so)–we all agreed that had we been running alone, we would have turned back loooong before we as a group were willing to stop–;sitting in a sauna and examining how each of our bodies responds to 175 degree heat and steam (‘you’re not even sweating! look at me–i came in here dry as a bone and i’m dripping!’ ‘oooh! check out the pattern of tiny droplets on my arm!’), then, when we couldn’t stand the heat any longer, running to the end of the dock and jumping into the lake; snorkeling (with a kid-size mask and a cheap plastic snorkel, but still!) along the shoreline and once actually touching the fin of a bluegill (their tails are so irridescently rainbow-y when they’re underwater!); being nibbled by said bluegills when you stand still long enough; funny little acrons with fuzzy trim around the edges of their “hats”; my young, two-year-old friend calling acorns ‘squirrels-eat-them’; going for rides on the pontoon; sitting in the hammock chair and discovering how incredibly comfortable they are; our friends’ dog who had an insatiable appetite for swimming around in the water; and playing cards until i fell asleep, two nights in a row. 
the biggest “first” for me the entire weekend was facing my fear of deep water. i’m not sure exactly what it is about deep water (maybe it’s related to my fear of heights?) but it, most of the time, is a gut reaction and something i seem to have very little control over. on the first day we were there, two of the girls and i decided to try to swim across the lake to this little peninsula. they think it’s about a half-mile across. we were escorted by two of the guys paddling a canoe to be something to hang onto if we needed a break and also as a more visible marker for boats careening across the lake. i got maybe a third of the way across and … freaked. i couldn’t find my swimming rhythm, i couldn’t breathe right and everytime i had the fleeting thought of “gee, the water here is really deep!” i got panicky. i stopped to hold onto the boat for a bit and get my bearings and when i saw how far i still had to go, i decided there was no way. so, i headed back to the home shore (i thought that either the boat or the swimmers would escort me at least part of the way, but i think they pretty much just watched that i was ok and then continued over.). the closer i got to shore, the more relaxed i felt. in fact, just turning back to shore enabled me to relax enough to fall back into my normal breathing/swimstroke pattern. i know it’s all in my head, but wow–my head can reallly affect my body too! so i paddled around, near the shore, playing with the dog in the water and trying to get more comfortable with the lake. then, i discovered the solution! the next day, when my strongest swimming friend asked if anyone wanted to swim across the lake with her, i said that i would paddleboat across and then swim back. i brought along my secret weapon (ok, i actually forgot my secret weapon, but one friend who was paddling along with the kayak was kind enough to turn back and grab it for me) and when we reached the far shore, i got into the water. then, my kayaking friend passed over… the pink pool noodle! what a fabulous tool! i pushed the pool noodle all the way across the lake! at first, i just grabbed onto it with both hands and kicked my feet to propel me along, then i tried doing a slight modification of my normal crawl stroke in which i would bump the pool noodle ahead of me everytime i put my arm forward in the stroke. genius! whenever i needed a break to catch my breath–i could hold onto the pool noodle! whenever i had the scary “gee, this lake is really deep!” thought, just brushing my fingers against that plastic foamy surface made me feel more calm! i feel like i completely cheated, but i actually swam the whole thing and i have cleverly left myself a goal for the next time i get to visit a lake. hopefully, we’ll get invited back.
