My new chlorine perfume...

Today I went to the Delta State Aquatics Center to do some water aerobics.  As you all know, my knees have been nothing short of worthless these past few months, so walking is pretty much out of the picture.  I've made a plan to do some water aerobics a couple times a week to get some exercise and give my knees a super low-impact workout.  The flaw in the plan is that the DSU pool is only open super strange hours (to accommodate the other, actual swim teams that practice daily).  So today was my first day to be able to do this since school started back this week. 

I hobbled in on my crutch (I'm such a renegade that in public, I only go with one crutch! Yeah, you heard me.) and the first thing I noticed was the extreme heat.  It was like a sauna in there.  I mean, hot.  Later I would want that heat to be turned up even higher when I was in the cold water and was freezing.  Trying to make small talk, I asked the lady with the young child beside me if they were cold.  "No, its not really cold if you are constantly moving around."  Wow, way to hate on me in the middle of the natatorium, lady.  If I want to stand in the water occasionally moving my leg around and be cold, then I can.  No judgment.  I'm not judging you on the fact that your young child beat you (twice) in a race across the pool, so don't judge me for being cold and apparently lazy. 

But the real water aerobics gangsters were the gaggle of older ladies in their 70's who were in an actual water aerobics class.  These ladies don't play.  They got there the same time I did and one of them passed me on the steps getting into the pool.  She sucked me up like a vacuum zooming past me as I waded into the water, one knee at a time. 

I'm really not exaggerating when I say this picture about sums it up.  At first, they were all excited that someone was joining their class and asked me lots of questions about my knee and myself.  Then, when I realized this was an actual class and I'd have to pay actual money to join, I excused myself and went to the other end to do the exercises my doctor had suggested.  This didn't set well with this group of snobby senior citizens and they stopped talking to me.  They moved closer and closer to where I'd gone and every time I got near them, they'd give me a dirty look, turn their backs and spread out even further, thus giving me less room.  They didn't have those weights like in the picture above, but they seemed really coordinated when they were making fists in the air and shaking from side to side.  I breathed a sigh of relief when I walked past them on my way out of the pool, until their leader, "Betty", hollered after me that they meet every Monday and Wednesday at noon.  She didn't invite me back or anything.  But there was something in her voice that was unsettling.  Perhaps this was a warning? 

In other, less geriatric ganster news, I was very inspired by the lady in the lane next to me.  I watched her as I did my special leg kicks and arm squeezes (the arm sqeezes were like hugs, mostly designed to keep my arms warm).  She was in the pool when I got in and left a couple minutes before I did.  She never stopped.  She swam and kicked and used these fancy little fin things.  I was impressed with her stamina.  Mostly because those old ladies were lapping me already. She made eye contact with me a couple times and gave me a huge smile both times.  I love that about people. 

But, then, I didn't notice when she got out of the pool, and when she came out of the locker room, I saw that she was in a wheelchair.  A super cool, sleek looking black and neon green wheelchair.  She had one leg amputated.  It was a very sweet moment for me-- to look at this wonderful, tough, cool lady and see how she wasn't letting anything in her life get in her way.  (To be clear, I don't know this lady- she might be a serial killer or hate Bill Cosby, or be related to some of the old bittys doing the hip circles in the pool beside me. But she seemed nice.)  It made me send up a quick prayer for my two half-way good knees. 

So, if anyone wants to join me, I'll be at the pool a couple times a week.  Except maybe not Monday or Wednesdays at noon.  Cause those old ladies could totally take me down.