Late in the summer we would go to Lake Michigan to swim in the cold green water and play in the rollers. In this picture Robyn and I were lying at the edge of the water, letting the waves wash over us and push our bodies up, then pull them back toward the lake.
We used to do this for hours on end. I almost always got a terrible sunburn with huge blisters on my back and shoulders. There was no sense of the strength of the sun because the air was always cool and the water was so cold that no one would swim except in late summer when the sun had warmed the surface water enough to be tolerable.
We would ride back to town in the station wagon, lying in the "way back" of the car, on our backs, looking up at the trees and power lines. Our view made them appear upside down through the windows. We were on heaps of pillows and quilts.
When we finally got to bed, as I grew quiet I would realize that my blood and nervous system was still in the rhythm of the surf. The feeling would sweep up my body, then back down, over and over, as I faded into sleep.
4 comments:
do you remember the time my darling brand new bathing suit tore every time one of those strong waves rolled over and over? mom and lou lou bought the suit spur of the moment because they forgot to pack one for me and apparently they were sold one that had been in the display widow for a very long time. the sun must have weakened the threads. that suit was in shreds at the end of the day. mom and lou lou got a lot of laughter mileage out of that one.
I too was hysterical as each wave tore a piece of your suit. I was always out of control with laughter around slap-stick humor. Bets, how old were we at that time?
i must have been close to seven/eight years old at the time...young enough to stay in the water and allow yet another tear (i could feel it ripping away around the torso and other strategic places while the force of the waves just tore away underwater)...yet old enough to be mortified at the end result when to much of my tender body was exposed as i ran to the towel. i could always be egged-on by enjoying others' laughter, even at my own expense!
i love this story. it has such a good feeling. really feel the water, the rhythm, the soft blankets, the heat from a sun burn and that wonderful sensation of the waves even as you go to sleep. really great writing here elle.
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