Susan's Credentials

Monday, September 11, 2023

Found

 

Rooted here

Quiet, earth-bound

Tremors of wisdom fill the air

An embrace wide enough to span

The ocean.

A feast of tranquility

An understory of understanding

Bliss.

Friday, September 1, 2023

The North Pool

 Shoes squeak across the YMCA lobby. Folks of all ages hurrying to their class or preferred workout area. 


A notice is posted at the desk that the north pool is temporarily closed, so lap swim is available only in the south pool. Two women walk by whispering about a rumored drowning at this morning's water exercise class. 

I decide to walk over and check it out for myself.

I peer through the glass of the observation deck. The lights are off in the pool area and it's hard to see. The rescue hook, kick boards, water weights and a discarded swim shoe lay strewn across the deck. 

I checked the locker room door. Unlocked. I pushed it open and entered the dark space. The only light was a soft glow coming from the sink. A woman stood there, naked as the day she was born, finger combing her hair in the mirror. 

"Hello," I ventured. "I was just trying to figure out why the pool is closed.

She continued futzing with an errant curl near her right ear.

"Oh, I don't know what all the fuss is about," she replied as she continued to struggle with an errant curl near her right ear. 

I washed my hands and told her what I'd heard at the front desk. When I looked up again, she was gone. All that was left was a single water shoe and a small puddle of pool water where she had stood. My question had been answered.