Water was something I either never learned to fear, or no one ever taught me to, I’m not sure which. One of my earliest memories is of having come out of the pool in the back yard of the house in Virginia and sitting on the bumper of my father’s Volkswagen bug to warm up in the sun. As a point of reference, I remember my legs were nearly straight, as my behind barely reached that far up. Shortly after, we moved to the isle of Malta, off of the coast of Sicily. My mother taught me to swim, or swim better, while we were there, taking me to the ‘beach’, which was really where the rocks met the sea, as Malta is a volcanic island. She would wade into the tidal pools and coach me in dog paddling towards her outstretched hands. Remarkably, she could not swim a stroke. As my swimming skills grew, I began to covet a snorkeling set I saw in one of the local Maltese stores, blue fins and a blue mask, which was full face, and had a built in snorkel with a flapper valve to keep water out when you submerged. I kept my desire for the snorkeling set no secret, and pestered my parents endlessly for it. Eventually I leveraged a deal for the mask and fins with my father. He said if I could swim the length of the pool at the Maltese Hilton, I could have my snorkeling set. I cannot tell you now how big the pool at the Hilton was, but as I remember it was a huge rectangle of water, and was drained and filled daily from the Mediterranean, as fresh water was at a premium on Malta. Undaunted, I accepted the challenge, and a date was set. On the agreed date my father unceremoniously dropped me into one end of the pool and the challenge began. I immediately began heading for the other end of the pool, paddling doggedly along as my father walked along the pool’s edge, coaching me along. I remember him saying “OK Sport, you’re doing great, keep going,” and so on, and the salt water burning my eyes, which I soon closed, and concentrated on my goal of reaching the other end. I continued blindly paddling, listening to my father’s encouragement, and my dream of owning the mask and fins, fueled by my desire to possess them before some less deserving child. Unbeknownst to me I was nearing my goal, and my father saw I was approaching the other end of the pool ran to the other side to continue his encouragement. As my eyes were clenched shut, I had been orienting myself by his voice to my left, and when he moved to the end of the pool I began to turn to the right. When he saw what was happening, he did what any good parent would do, capitalizing on my mistake, and continued to coach me around the pool. After having swum the length of the pool, he led me along the width. When we approached the corner, he hurried around the corner, luring me down the other side. When I arrived at the end from which I had started, I was lifted out of the pool, clasping me to his chest. My feet never hit the concrete, and he carried me to the parking lot, to the car, and to the store. I was still dripping, standing in the store, when my father handed me my first set of mask and fins
Posted on: Thu, 08 Aug 2013 03:43:58 +0000
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