Halleluejah! (SP) A swim in the pool

Finally, after spending an hour, not on the court, but at the court this a.m. I did play a few times in the overcast. The fog lowered until I could see it sweeping across the court, nearly hitting the deck.

Returning to the condo after 11 a.m. I began attacking the laundry. That done, I jumped into my faithful blue suit, took the book about Waspdowm I'm still reading, I headed to the pool about 3:15 p.m. The tennis crowd had taken over the good corner shielded from the wind, facing the sun. I said, "Hello, Hello, Hello, Hello, etc. and seeing not an empty seat among the people I knew I found a chaise lounger in the sun, shielded from the wind, among strangers covered it with my two towels. It was warm enough today to take off my terry cloth robe and sit in paradise with a book for almost 2 hours. Two hours out of how many days, weeks, months? A great two hours.

During those 2 hours I put down the book and plopped into the 87 degree pool, alone, except for one woman doing very slow laps or some sort. I breast-stroked one way, scissor-kicked on my back another way. Got my hair good and wet, unlike all the women who bounce around in pool on a noodle up to their necks in the water wearing sun glasses and a visor, never wetting their perms or wave or whatever it is they are trying and succeeding in perserving.

Not for me, bobbing about with a noodle. I like to get wet For God's Sake. If I'm going for a swim, I'm going for a swim, not a Bob. I don't feel compelled to swim laps. I like to swim a little, float a little, look at the sky, the clouds, enjoy the temperature, color and warm of the water.

When I get out I don't want to rush into a towel. I like to drip dry. I walked over to my lounger, plopped down, closed my eyes and drank in the feeling of having taken a swim, the cool of water on my skin, the sun drying the water. Nothing I had to-do for the moment. No worries. Simple pleasures. At last!

The book is going well. I spent a couple of hours reading passages to Skip the other night. He told me he thought Tad Friend, the author, is a great writer. I think so too. Writing for the New Yorker takes a certain level of competence, if nothing else. Skip doesn't believe some of the stories in the book are true. Why he thinks they aren't true is not clear to me. And, frankly, who cares? They are great stories. Besides, why lie? Some of the stuff would be hard to make up. It is a memoir of Tad's life growing up in a WASP family. It is hilarious in places and oh so tragic. Like so many families. His description of WASP traits and events in his family I can relate to in my family, Skip's family and other families I've encountered over the years.

Yesterday I spent with my friend Barbara. It was a day we have once a year. We meet. We go to thrift shops, consignment shops. We have lunch. We look at stuff more than we buy. We enjoy ourselves. I came home with a couple of real bargains. I also came home with a sense of renewal. I'd had a day to be myself with a friend. Nothing beats that. Well, something might, but at this stage of my life, Nothing beats that.

Prepare yourselves. I bought something I rail against- a pair of leather pants. I could not live with my conscience if I ordered a pair of leather pants made to fit me. I would never pay to have leather pants made. I think of leather almost the way I think of fur-exploitive. I don't care to wear clothing that caused animals to be slaughtered for my benefit.

I do not eat veal. I try my best not to eat lambs. I don't want to eat pigs- they are reportedly smarter than dogs. How can I eat something that knows what a pig knows? People have taught pigs to type. I don't always hold out. I sometimes order a BLT. I might have two scrambled eggs and bacon. I have a great recipe for Hoppin' John that brings you Good Luck all year long for New Year's day. It contains chopped ham. So I'm no saint.

I do eat beef, if I eat any animal. At least only one animal is killed and lots of it's parts are eaten and used. Unlike eating scallops, where many, many living beings are killed so one human can eat one meal. Not good if you are against killing living beings. Each and every living thing has aright to keep on living as we have a right to keep on living until the body fails.

Who gave us, as humans, the right to kill things? Don't go to the Bible and start quoting scripture. It means nothing to me. It was written, most of it by men. You'll have to come up with a better reason than that.

I eat chicken and I'm not happy doing that. Chicken is probably less healthy than most things. Think of all that Salmonella running around on it and the eggs. I eat Salmon, wild caught if I can afford it. I can afford it because I don't buy veal, lamb etc. Of course I do buy lamb, ham etc to feed Skip, but I don't buy it for myself.

If I could walk the walk as well as talk the talk I would be a Vegan. I could have a clear conscience. But, I grew up eating meat. I'm served meat when I visit people's homes. I choose to eat meat myself sometimes when I go out to eat. I don't beat myself up about it. I enjoy it when it is served to me, but do I feel good about eating an animal with a face, big eyes, a heart, a brain, nerve endings and who knows what else? NO, of course not.

Could I kill an animal if I were hungry. I'm sure I could, but I would not choose to do that. I would and do avoid killing things. I'd rather eat rice, vegetables, fruit, cheese. I like nothing better than a good salad. Of course if I were a Vegan I'd have to give up Coffee ice cream. That would be painful. And I'd have to give up all dairy products. Not likely that I'm going to do that any time soon. Maybe a trip to India, immerse myself in another culture with other vegetarians and all those wonderful spices. If someone would show me how to cook like that. If I'd grown up eating Indian food, then I'd have a head start on the vegetarian thing. As it is now, it's very difficult to cook food I don't understand and sometimes don't even know what to call it. Better to buy Indian stuff from Whole foods in pre-mixed packages for around $3.00 Cook rice, heat the mixture. Voila Instant Vegetarian meal. No worries.

Back to the day with Barbara, but Wait. I'm suppose to be over at Kay's saying hello to some friends of hers. I'd better go. Later. FAN