Water sports

My wife does water exercises for about an hour three days a week. Then when she comes home, she leads me through 30 or 40 minutes of exercises in the pool. I wear a life jacket. I float like a rock and, frankly, am quite frightened of going under. Scared spitless, in fact.

In early 1965 I spent 28 days on a troopship crossing the Pacific Ocean. I was not frightened at all. Two years ago, Kathleen, Priscilla and I were on a one-mast sailing boat on Tampa Bay for more than two hours, looking for, and actually seeing, dolphins. Not a problem.

But get me in wading water and the prospect of going under … Altogether different story.

Most of the exercises are done using a long foam thingy called a “noodle.” A noodle will keep you afloat if used correctly, my wife said, but I do not plan on testing the accuracy of her statement.

One set of exercises consists of sitting on the noodle and moving in different directions. The first day we exercised, my noodle did not want to cooperate. I am 69.5 years old and 6’ 1.5" tall. My legs do not move as far or as well as they did five years ago.

As I wrestled in the water, my wife said, “You need a bigger noodle.”

I said, “Everybody needs a bigger noodle.”

Humor while practically drowning. Ha-ha.