Joy in the Morning

There will be no big reveals in this writing, only my expression of the enormous joy I often experience in my water aerobics class, attended usually on Monday and Wednesday mornings at 8:45 at the local Y.

7:15 am At home before that, I sit with my iPad, scanning headlines of the Boston Globe and the New York Times, sometimes drilling down to details, always spending time with the games, especially Wordle. My favorite game of the moment is Letter Boxed, a game with about fifteen letters spread around a box. The challenge is to create four (or five or six) words to use all of the letters. Anyways, during this game time, I feel gloriously lazy, unmoving on a comfortable chair, designated as the electric chair by my husband. We got it for him just before his knee replacements last year, somewhat against his will. Of course, he used it gratefully after his surgeries, but now, it’s only me who sits in it. I love it! Thus, when it’s time for me to lower it and leave it for my water aerobics class, I don’t really want to, but I do, often arriving at class two or three minutes late.

8:46 am The pool is huge, L-shaped and my class is not always in the same area of the pool. Yesterday, it was at the far end, so today I rushed in, late, noticing that I could hear the music as soon as I entered the pool area, moving quickly to the other end. After a moment of confusion because my class wasn’t there, I finally noticed I had passed the class, because it had changed locations again.

The water always feels a bit chilly initially, but water jogging corrects that quickly as I engage in the exercises, yielding to the music and its pleasures. Sometimes there’s a tension between my desire to sing along (which I do, quietly) and the timing of the movements, but that’s minor. I always go with the music, which I simply love. The old tunes, including ABBA’s Super Trouper, Mama Mia, and Dancing Queen, energize me, make me feel seventeen again. I forget that I’m in a pool with other grey-haired women and my body feels young and beautiful again. I feel like the ballerina that I’ve never been and I remember the many proms and military balls I attended when I was in the Cardinals Drum Corps.

9:06 am And, my body is working, though I’ve never been naturally inclined to exercise. I feel the work I’ve been doing and glance at the clock. It’s only 9:06. I’ve been exercising for only twenty minutes. After those minutes of delight, I feel a bit of despair. Twenty-five minutes to go. I want to maintain the pleasure throughout the entire 45-minute class, but it’s not to be.

9:25 am Somehow, I go back to that place of contentment again, to be interrupted when the door ahead of me to the family locker room opens. Preschool children emerge, led by and followed by their guardians, heading to the other end of the pool for swimming lessons. The facial expressions of these beautiful children are mixed, some annoyed, some curious, a few smiling. I am reminded of my time at the Y more than fifty years ago, as a young mom with my four-year-old son, Jackie, for his swim lessons. Did I ever notice the old ladies at the pool then? I don’t think so. But, remembering that time and seeing these children today gives me such joy!

9:30 am The class ends, I shower, dress, and head for my car. I notice again a car that caught my attention on the way in, a tiny red convertible, that I imagined a handsome young man driving. But wait! One of the grey-haired women from my class is getting into it! I stop to tell her how much I love her car, how happy I am to see her driving it, and wish her a good day.

9:45 am Next, I stop at Bonny Bread, for a delicious breakfast sandwich on a fresh brioche roll. I feel so rich in the joys of my life and it’s only mid-morning. More joy awaits me . . .

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