'My Name is Memory' by Ann Brashares

I'm reading 'My Name is Memory.'  What an interesting book.  A man with a complete memory lives through multiple lives, always seeking the same woman who remembers only the life she's living.  See, I was the girl who read 'Jonathan Livingston Seagull' at least twelve times.  I bought it at least eleven times and gave it away again after each time I read it.  Maybe it's time for me to buy it and read it again.  The only other book I've read more than twice is 'Little Women,' which always made me feel better when I was sad as a girl. 

Richard Bach's books were my first introduction to the concept of reincarnation.  What a beautiful idea, that I could be reborn so that I could keep learning.  I was brought up to believe in science.  Oh, my parents took us to church every Sunday, but Monday through Saturday, my dad taught me that science was my foundation.  My brother and sister are still students of science.  I am too, in a way, but I've become more mystical as I've grown older.  I'm almost ashamed to admit it. 

So here's what I tell my scientific friends, if I even have the courage to tell them anything at all:  No one really knows what happens after we die, so it makes sense that I believe in what supports me and my community in the best way.  I want to believe that souls continue in time.  In fact, I still talk to the people I love who have died.  It surprises me to think how often.  Ready to call the nice men with the white coats and the syringe?

Mike, Nick, and I have a small family and sometimes we feel a little isolated.  Mike's mom died before we were even married.  My dad died before we ever met.  Yet, there is comfort in thinking about how much they both would have loved Nick, even for him. Sometimes, I get verklempt thinking that Mike's mom would have loved how much I love her boy and her grandson.  The idea of the continuation of souls helps us to feel less lonely in the universe. 

And my cats.  Our cat Seth has always tried to push me around and I won't stand for it.  I've joked with people that he's a bad husband from a previous life.   I can't even go into the details about the cats without feeling silly.  I think I've gotten myself worked into a reincarnation story with them.  It may feel ridiculous but it's a story that resonates with me, so I let it go around in my head.  Notice that I can't tell the story out loud to you.  There are some things that belong firmly in either fiction or in silence.  I'll stick to silence for now.

So you can see why Brashares' novel would spark something for me.  It's giving me a feeling similar to that of 'The Time Traveler's Wife' by Audrey Niffenegger.  In fact, if you liked one, you will probably like the other.  Sometimes, I wonder about how a book might have sparked another.  'The Time Traveler's Wife' definitely came first.  Did Ann Brashares read that and start writing from there or was there something in the air the way four different inventors will often come up with similar designs within months of each other?  I like the possibility of synchronicity, but leaping from the shoulders of giants isn't off limits either.  What story doesn't begin where another left off?

So I sat in the sun today and read 'My Name is Memory,' occasionally stopping to wonder if I've loved Mike before.  Yes, the sun has finally come out here and Nick, his friend, and I went to Wild Waves to enjoy it.  For the first time, I actually sat back on a lounge chair and read.  Oh, I slid down tubes, got flushed, floated in the river, but then I sat back and read in the sun.  And this was a lovely book to sit with.

Thank you for listening, jb

Thank you for listening, jb

Sliding at Wild Waves

It's a beautiful day at Wild Waves! We played the 'styles' game in the wave pool. That involves letting the wave hit you while you pose, warrior style, ballerina style, soldier style. It's warm in the water, so there's a chill when you get out. Rough life, huh?

We got season tickets early, so we only have to come three times to make it pay for itself, even with Mike's corporate discount. If we'd gotten them in March, it would have been less than half the cost of season passes now. The coupon book will encourage some moms to join us when we tell them we can get someone in for free.

We had never been on the four-man raft ride. Whew! It started down before I was even in and Mike said he almost flew out a couple of times. I was really gripping to stay put. The boys loved it so much we had to go again.

I love the lazy river. Just hang on and float around until you're tired of floating. It's good for the younger kids, but there's still a current, so Adrian made me pretty nervous a couple of years ago when he was eight. He's still not a strong swimmer, so I'm hoping his mom will let me take him to lessons at Mt Si pool in August. Nick can always use a refresher too.

I'm surprised that they haven't gone down the single long tubes. I like the yellow tube. It spins a lot. They are still nervous because they just started going down them late last summer.

So, I asked a kid lifeguard when the toilet bowl was going to open up. He didn't even blink at the name I used. You can imagine what it looks like! I don't know what they're naming it, but Mike hopes it's called 'Flushed.' The kid lifeguard said next week is the date as long as the health inspection goes well. I'm kind of glad to know there's a health inspector. I remember a small tube slide in Indiana that smelled like pee near the top. So even without the mom thing, I would have appreciated a health inspector there. And while they're at it, maybe they can condemn the stairwells to the subway in NYC.

So, I'm off to the wavepool! Then, I'm going to twirl around in the yellow tube. I look forward to being flushed next week. See you at the bottom!

Thank you for listening, jb

Pool Time

So today, we decided we were going swimming.  There are no pools really close, but there are three that aren't too far away.  At the Mt. Si Community Pool, an indoor pool, the staff is really sweet.  Last year, the boys took lessons there and high school kids taught them, nice high school kids.  We always see people we know at the Mt. Si Pool.  The building is large and made to look like a log cabin and has a great view across the soccer fields of it's namesake, Mt. Si.  The boys have to swim the length of the small pool to be allowed in the deep end.  This is good practice for them because they'll be going to Cub Scout camp in three weeks and need the practice.

We could also have gone to the Bellevue Aquatics Center, another indoor pool.  It has two pools, one warm and one cooler.  The warm pool is fairly shallow and small and is frequently used for physical therapy.  I think it's really good for the boys to see people who need some extra help, along with those with disabilities who manage quite well on their own.  The cooler pool is Olympic-sized and has a large and a small tube slide, a basketball hoop, and a large diving area.  The boys have to swim the length of the pool to be allowed to go off the diving boards.  They both want that privilege, so they're usually willing.  I don't know if you see the drift here, but I like them to be challenged as much as possible during the summer if they aren't taking lessons.  I figure that knowing how to swim is a necessity, like learning to read and do math.

The pool we went to today was the Mountlake Terrace Community Pool.  There wasn't a swim test, but I had them do as many laps as they could.  Adrian still had to be reminded to kick his feet and use his arms for the one length he completed.  He's only comfortable on his back and really needs another round of lessons.  Nick swam back and forth the length of the pool three times.  He likes the breast stroke and is very comfortable using the resting back stroke too.  He won't have any problems passing the swim test at Cub Scout camp.  I'm not sure Adrian will even try the test if we don't get more swim time in before then.  I'm hoping to go twice next week and once more before we leave for camp. 

The Mountlake Terrace Community Pool has a shallow toddler area with fountains and water toys that I wish I'd known about when Nickie was small.  It has a deeper section with lanes and during the recreational swim, they put long floating mats across it to run out on like a slip-and-slide.  There are lots of pool toys, balls, tubes, mats, and a basketball hoop.  There's also a separate area called the river that has a current and is about the size of an average hotel pool.  I like walking and swimming upstream in that one, but most of the kids are floating with the current, so I have to be careful.   They also have a Jacuzzi and a sauna.  The sauna felt great.  I love how the pores of my skin stretch open.  Also, there are no kids allowed in the sauna, so it's a way to get a relatively quiet moment.

In the Midwest, where I grew up, we never went to indoor pools to swim.  I kind of miss outdoor pools in the summer, but they're always overcrowded around here.  We went to one in Kirkland three years ago and the way they had it set up was that you waited in a long line, tried to swim for 45 minutes in an overcrowded pool, and then were dumped out to stand in a long line again for the next available 45 minute session.  The sunshine wasn't worth it for that.  With our cool wet weather ten months out of the year, there aren't many outdoor pools. Today, it's 66 degrees and drizzly.  We're not even thinking about going to the lake to swim yet.  The lakes here, usually being deep and fed by snow melt, are cold so we wait for the hot weather to set in before we go to one of the lakes.

Next week, it's supposed to get up to 76 degrees and I'm hoping that will feel warm enough to go to Wild Waves with their tube slides, wave pool, long lazy river, and great roller coaster.  I bought us season passes for the summer. If we go three times, we more than cover the cost of the passes.  Plus, there's a fun Haunted House on Halloween, so I know the passes will be worth it.  The boys are getting to the age that they want to be more independent and I can trust them to be on their own part of the time while we're there. 

I'm glad I decided to swim today instead of just watching the boys play or reading my book.  I'm a water bug at heart and I needed the exercise.

Thanks for listening, jb