 |
previous posts
ugh. ran a mile in 7 min, another half mile in.....
currently at NYU bobst library, 6th floor, the lou...
AARRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!!!!!
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!! i can't believe it...
back in the city i feel like i didn't study for a...
YALE GRADUATION: CONGRATULATIONS, DAVID!!!! ddon...
AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!! AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!...
SLEEP lifted with BJ last night at 11-11:45pm, di...
came home to the worse news....LAKERS lost. i'm cr...
woke up again to the same wonderful deep baritone ...
A BASKIN ROBBINS SUMMER (continued. Part XV of ? If you are new to this story, you can read from the beginning,
here)
THE SWIMMING HOLE
In mid-afternoon of the next day, we all went to a stream nearby. There was a portion of the stream that widened considerably, with a slower current, forming a perfect swimming pool. Everyone was excited, and rushed into the water.
The water was shallow, perhaps four to five feet deep, and clear at first, but with so many kids churning the mud around, became muddy quickly. I soon realized that most of them did not know how to swim, especially the girls. Knowing their limitations, most of the girls didn’t even bother to swim, but just walked through the water, talking. I played a funky off version of Marco Polo with most of the boys.
In the heat of the game, a chorus of screams pierced through the shouts of the boys and the background murmur of the stream. My head spun, trying to locate the source of the screams. I swam with all I had toward a group of girls that were thrashing about in the water. My cousin Tae was already there, and shouted at me to hurry. An entire group of girls had somehow gone into deeper waters, and were flailing about, panicking. I grabbed two girls by the waists, then hooked the crook of my arms around their chins like I thought I remembered learning when I took that lifeguard test so many years ago, when I wasn’t really paying attention nor entertaining the thought of ever using such techniques. One grabbed my head, and pulled herself up, pushing me into the water as I inspired. The other kept hitting and kicking me, for what reason, I don’t know.
I tried to ignore their struggling, and though my chest burned and my throat tickled with the water I swallowed, I kicked several times, as hard as I could. When I was sure I was past the deep waters, I threw the girls at the sobbing group of girls that were on shallower waters, and went back to where Tae was also pulling three girls out. I grabbed two more girls, and these two were in worse shape, because they were not struggling much at all. I pulled them also out of the deep waters, and pushed them toward the others. By now, some of the older boys had also managed to help pull several girls out, and Tae had brought the last of them to safety. I whispered a prayer of thanks to God, because I had no strength left, and would not have been able to go back even if there were more girls. Tae and I checked all the girls, and miraculously, they were all ok. Well, maybe not ok, because the entire lot was bawling, even the ones who were never in danger.
Coughing, and spitting, I pulled myself to shallower water and sat. I took great, big breaths. I felt like I could not breath enough. I sat there, trying to understand how close those girls were to drowning, and how close I was to dying in trying to save them.
Tae trudged his way to me, and gave me a big hug. “Thanks.”
I saw his chest, also heaving, and his fingers, which were trembling. I just nodded in response. I couldn’t really talk.
Eventually, my fear of not being able to breathe dissipated, and I was able to think again. A group of the girls came toward me. The ones that I had saved, I realized. They came up to thank me, but ended up bursting into tears as they relived their near death experiences. I wanted to tell them something really comforting, but again, I had no words to say. They came together and gave me a big, fierce hug. It was strange, knowing that I had just saved four girls from drowning. All those swimming lessons, and hours spent playing in the swimming pool, those ridiculous lifeguard tests I had to take, finally came to have meaning that day.
I felt like a hero. A hero shaking with wrecked nerves, soaked in water, but a hero nonetheless. When I saw the way Lydia was looking at me, I took smaller breaths, composed myself into an image of what a hero should look like, and gave her a smile. I felt like a knight in shining armor, proving my valor and courage. I was a nut.
It turns out that all the girls had been chatting and walking along in the water together in a tight group. Unknowingly, they were on a underwater shelf, and were slowly making their way toward the edge, where there was a sudden drop off underwater. When several of them went over, they had grabbed onto the nearest girls for help, who had also tumbled over, pulling in several girls also. Even in the “deep” section, it was not more than 7-9 ft deep. Yet their panic, fear, and thrashing about would have been enough to cause them to drown.
It was a crazy day. I am living a crazy life, I thought. I couldn’t enjoy the rest of the day because I was thinking of life, death, and how I nearly came so close to dying before I loved as man and woman love. I so badly wanted to love and be loved in return. I mean the foolish, throw-it-all-to-the-wind love, love that sensible practical people frown upon. (I am in a fix, laughing and gagging, as I write this…but that was how I felt then…)
Eventually the retreat came to an end. Being the clueless, church-by-habit monkey that I was then, I got absolutely nothing, spiritually, from that retreat. Other than my brush with death.
yakob at 3:21 AM
-----------------
here)
THE SWIMMING HOLE
In mid-afternoon of the next day, we all went to a stream nearby. There was a portion of the stream that widened considerably, with a slower current, forming a perfect swimming pool. Everyone was excited, and rushed into the water.
The water was shallow, perhaps four to five feet deep, and clear at first, but with so many kids churning the mud around, became muddy quickly. I soon realized that most of them did not know how to swim, especially the girls. Knowing their limitations, most of the girls didn’t even bother to swim, but just walked through the water, talking. I played a funky off version of Marco Polo with most of the boys.
In the heat of the game, a chorus of screams pierced through the shouts of the boys and the background murmur of the stream. My head spun, trying to locate the source of the screams. I swam with all I had toward a group of girls that were thrashing about in the water. My cousin Tae was already there, and shouted at me to hurry. An entire group of girls had somehow gone into deeper waters, and were flailing about, panicking. I grabbed two girls by the waists, then hooked the crook of my arms around their chins like I thought I remembered learning when I took that lifeguard test so many years ago, when I wasn’t really paying attention nor entertaining the thought of ever using such techniques. One grabbed my head, and pulled herself up, pushing me into the water as I inspired. The other kept hitting and kicking me, for what reason, I don’t know.
I tried to ignore their struggling, and though my chest burned and my throat tickled with the water I swallowed, I kicked several times, as hard as I could. When I was sure I was past the deep waters, I threw the girls at the sobbing group of girls that were on shallower waters, and went back to where Tae was also pulling three girls out. I grabbed two more girls, and these two were in worse shape, because they were not struggling much at all. I pulled them also out of the deep waters, and pushed them toward the others. By now, some of the older boys had also managed to help pull several girls out, and Tae had brought the last of them to safety. I whispered a prayer of thanks to God, because I had no strength left, and would not have been able to go back even if there were more girls. Tae and I checked all the girls, and miraculously, they were all ok. Well, maybe not ok, because the entire lot was bawling, even the ones who were never in danger.
Coughing, and spitting, I pulled myself to shallower water and sat. I took great, big breaths. I felt like I could not breath enough. I sat there, trying to understand how close those girls were to drowning, and how close I was to dying in trying to save them.
Tae trudged his way to me, and gave me a big hug. “Thanks.”
I saw his chest, also heaving, and his fingers, which were trembling. I just nodded in response. I couldn’t really talk.
Eventually, my fear of not being able to breathe dissipated, and I was able to think again. A group of the girls came toward me. The ones that I had saved, I realized. They came up to thank me, but ended up bursting into tears as they relived their near death experiences. I wanted to tell them something really comforting, but again, I had no words to say. They came together and gave me a big, fierce hug. It was strange, knowing that I had just saved four girls from drowning. All those swimming lessons, and hours spent playing in the swimming pool, those ridiculous lifeguard tests I had to take, finally came to have meaning that day.
I felt like a hero. A hero shaking with wrecked nerves, soaked in water, but a hero nonetheless. When I saw the way Lydia was looking at me, I took smaller breaths, composed myself into an image of what a hero should look like, and gave her a smile. I felt like a knight in shining armor, proving my valor and courage. I was a nut.
It turns out that all the girls had been chatting and walking along in the water together in a tight group. Unknowingly, they were on a underwater shelf, and were slowly making their way toward the edge, where there was a sudden drop off underwater. When several of them went over, they had grabbed onto the nearest girls for help, who had also tumbled over, pulling in several girls also. Even in the “deep” section, it was not more than 7-9 ft deep. Yet their panic, fear, and thrashing about would have been enough to cause them to drown.
It was a crazy day. I am living a crazy life, I thought. I couldn’t enjoy the rest of the day because I was thinking of life, death, and how I nearly came so close to dying before I loved as man and woman love. I so badly wanted to love and be loved in return. I mean the foolish, throw-it-all-to-the-wind love, love that sensible practical people frown upon. (I am in a fix, laughing and gagging, as I write this…but that was how I felt then…)
Eventually the retreat came to an end. Being the clueless, church-by-habit monkey that I was then, I got absolutely nothing, spiritually, from that retreat. Other than my brush with death.
yakob at 3:21 AM