Yonder River, How I Love Thee

There's something about water, don't you agree? Whether it's the ocean, a roaring river, or a scenic lake, there's an exhale or a sense of peace that comes over me.

We've realized that we love to swim. The kids will play in the sprinklers. When we used to vacation (pre 3 kids), we preferred places with available swimming. We go to the neighborhood pool 3-4x/week. Even if it weren't 90 degrees everyday (it's 99 today...but it's a humid heat), we'd be there just as much. We walk the three blocks to the pool (read: sprint) and Kiera screeches the moment she sees it. It's as if she had no idea why she had put on her swimsuit. After an hour of lounging, screaming, and "Motor Boat, Motor Boat, Go So Fast-ing", we head home at a crawl. Swimming time is over.

Ah, but there's always tomorrow. We might head over to one of the natural spring pools in town to cool off. But my favorite place so far here is hands down the river, er lake. The Colorado River (a different one) flows through town. It's dammed up a few places so certain sections of it are deemed lakes. So there's LadyBird Lake (aka Town Lake), Lake Austin, and then farther away Lake Travis. The centerpiece (for me) of Town Lake is the 10 mile, Texas red-dirt trail that snugly wraps around it. Everyone and their grandmother comes out to run. Short, fat, tall, thin. Old, young, collegiate, soccer mom, double-jogger pushing dad (right here, baby). They walk, they run, they sweat, they chat, they ipod. Then they all congregate under the MoPac bridge (freeway) to drink cold water provided by our local big running store (RunTex). This has become a 3x/week ritual. Running in the shade next to the cool river is almost spiritual. It has been a constant friend. There is hope there. There is community there. There is health there. There is beautiful nature there.

When we finally leave, packing our sweat-drenched bodies into the minivan I'm sad leaving this new "friend" for the next 48 hours. But I am consoled by the prospect of swimming in our pool. Or there are two other ways to cool down: "Oh Bluebell Ice Cream, how I love thee" and "Oh Diet Coke, how I love thee."