How do we get there? Backstroke!

My little squirrel in a lake in Northern Wisconsin

Ah yes, the jokes of summer camp. Whenever it rained at the overnight camp I went to back in the day, someone would shout out "How do we get there?" and the response would indeed be "Backstroke!" followed by much windmilling of arms by 10 year old boys. Good times of child fun.

These days, Alya is the one who is doing swimming lessions and I took her to the Brown Deer High School pool last night for the latest class that Alya is currently taking. Mind, it isn't actually swimming but more like pool activities for little ones.

No matter what the definition, Alya loves to "Jump in the wa-wa." She will stand on the side of the pool and leap right into my or Sasha's arms without the slightest hesitation. And that is awesome in my eyes.

Especially since she will probably be a good swimmer at an early age, unlike her old man.

When I was a wee lad, I got sent to swimming lessons often. The same swimming lessions. Over and over again. That was because I was never able to pass the beginner level. Looking back, the only thing that I believe was problematic was doing dives. Leaping head first into anything just feels wrong to me.

It took about two years before beginners was passed. Over a year to get past the advanced beginners class. And the next classes went quickly after that. Probably because diving wasn't as important anymore.

Like Alya, I liked to jump in the wa-wa and still do. Hopefully, she'll get through the diving portion easier than her pa-pa.



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Other notes - currently on a Peter Gabriel listening trip. "More Than This" from the Up album is on the iPod right now. Up is an album of heavy emotion and heavy beats. When it came out, I gave a brief listen at the Borders on the south side of Milwaukee. The jarring guitars and discordiant sounds instantly turned me off and I made no move to buy the CDs as it was not the Peter Gabriel that I enjoyed.

Then I heard "The Barry Williams Show". Don't know where I heard it, but a song about a daytime talk show host that goes over the edge is simply a delight to the ear. This opened my mind to some of the other tracks, the eventual purchase of the CD, and seeing him in concert at Summerfest a few years back.

So give him a listen again. Whether it be the John-Cusack-holding-a-boom-box "In Your Eyes" or the behavioral science based "Shock the Monkey", dust him off and give a listen. Peter Gabriel is an artist that stands the test of time in my mind.

Be seeing you,

Jon