I OFTEN SIT ON MY PORCH for half-hour tanning sessions. The porch faces due west, and the early afternoon offers the best chance to catch the sun’s rays before it disappears behind my neighbor’s Victorian high-roof gable. I enjoy this newer routine because it is convenient and at 75 years of age changing into swimming trunks and walking down to the beach takes some doing.
The above photo I took on my walk this morning. The swimming raft is very inviting. It reminds me of the one I enjoyed on Orchard Lake in the Detroit suburbs during the summers of my youth. My friends would crowd the platform trying to tip the raft causing us to bail out into the refreshing water careful to avoid the anchor chain. It involved hours of pure enjoyment and required strength and agility. A deep tan came in due course. I remember using my upper torso to shimmy myself back up on the platform where I would start the horseplay all over again. What an absolute blast.
I imagined swimming out to this newer raft and realized that there would be little chance that I could get myself out of the water onto the deck. Even if I could use a single thrust to get out of the lake I visualized a beached whale. Knowing one's capabilities at seventy-five is a good thing.
In today's world, I’m usually dressed in shorts and a polo shirt ready to move into a state of serenity and peace with my newer tanning routine. I rather enjoy it and look forward to sitting in my cushioned wicker chair as the sun shines upon me in the early afternoons. My porch represents a happy place for me. My garden offers changes every day and I'm fully aware of the magic it brings to my life. My annual flowers attract beneficial insects and birds and I look over Crystal Lake hoping young kids are spending hours jumping off docks and rafts into the water to experience the joy of summer in the beautiful lake.
Such pleasant memories.
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