The Lake Will Soon Be Frozen
On the Annual Adjustment
Each year when the surface of the lake turns to ice, I am forced to once again find life affirming activities to replace swimming.
I wrote this last July:
Summer has always been my season, and has become much more so since I became disabled. There aren’t any real outdoor winter sports that are readily available to me. Nonetheless, I stay focused on things that I CAN do to make me feel I’m alive having nearly lost my life in 1999. Fact is, we are all just one heartbeat away from the other side.
Swimming in the lake ends long before it freezes. This year, my last best swim was on September 15th. I was thrilled to be in the water so late in the season but knew it wouldn’t last. There was a creeping awareness that soon, I wouldn’t be able to “Swim, Dance, Ride, Screw”. Swimming is the only true outdoor activity on that list as I ride in a large indoor riding ring all winter long.
When I became aware that I would not be swimming in the lake until next season, my thoughts turned toward how I could replace that life affirming activity. I am driven to squeeze every drop of life out of every day. If I’m not swimming, there has to be some other way for me to have real fun.
The first best thought this year was to replace “swim” with “sing”. I don’t need any special adaptative devices to sing. I never lost my voice when I had the stroke. If anything, my voice became sexier from the damage to my vocal cords due to being intubated so many times for surgeries and the stroke itself.
I still miss ice skating, but singing will have to do. Be. Alive.
Thank you for reading :)
