CQBlog 15/02/24 – More showing off about swimming…

I’m talking about swimming again: should I apologise?  Well, I’m not going to.  You know that 18 months ago, I could physically swim, I knew the mechanics, but I needed my feet to be able to touch the floor, and swim along the side of the pool so I could reach out and hold on if I needed to, even in just 3ft of water.  And then I signed up for Adult Improver Swimming lessons at the Aqualibrium leisure centre in Campbeltown.  

Instructor Kirsty is just fabulous at encouraging participants to practice whatever they (with a little persuasion from Kirsty) feel is their next natural step.  I started just by wanting to swim into, and out from the deep end.  Then I progressed to doing it in lane 2, then lane 3.  I learnt how to tread water.  Then I added jumping in to the deep end.  Then jumping in, treading water, and continuing to swim a full length.  Then I wanted to be able to swim under the ropes, then to pick something up from the pool floor (in the shallow end), and recently, to swim down to the bottom (still shallow end) and touch the floor with both hands at the same time before continuing on to swim a length.  I obviously plan to progress to doing this in the deep end, but I’m working up to that. 

When I swim in a public swimming session, with other punters, and *hold the front page* children, I’m now swimming a minimum of 20 lengths, most often 30, but sometimes 40 or 50 lengths.

But last night felt like a biggie.  Last night Kirsty suggested I work towards doing a tumble turn.  Like this, she demonstrated.  Like this? I said.  And did it.  In a really, really basic way, but I did it.  I was more than a little amazed if I’m honest.  I practiced it a couple of times in the shallow end.  Then I did it in the shallow, carried on swimming into the deep end, and expected to have a little panic when I tried it and failed in the deep end.  But here’s the thing.  I did it. Badly.  Or in a really basic way, but I did it.  And then I swam all the way back to the shallow, trying to breathe properly at the same time as trying not to smile like a Cheshire Cat because I was so pleased with myself.  And then I did it again.  And again. 

And today, I still feel as stupidly pleased.  Which made me think of Pauline, who works on reception there.  On my way in to swim on Monday, she stopped me, and asked why I go to the Adult Improvers Class, because she told me I was such a good swimmer!  She knew, because she’d seen me.  And she knew how long I spent in the pool so knew I was swimming a fair distance.  It was of course lovely to hear such a compliment, especially when I have worked so hard to improving my confidence, and my swimming.  Of course, I talked about using the sessions to improve my swimming each week, and of course how much I love them; which I do.  I’m sure Kirsty will have polished her halo as a result.  

Now if I could only demonstrate some of this fabulous technique when I am in the sea.  But I’m working on that too, and think that part of the answer will improve with more regular sunny or even just dry and not windy days.  But I will do it.  You know I hate to be beaten, so I will.  

But I also want to tell you about something else, something totally different that I am stupidly excited about at the moment.  D&D. Or for those uninitiated amongst you, dungeons and dragons.  And for those who still don’t know, it is a fantasy role playing game that relies on a set of many-sided dice, a huge imagination, and a group of likeminded individuals with one mentally equipped to be the Dungeon Master (DM).  It might include dragons, you will probably kill stuff, and you play the whole game (campaign) pretending not to be yourself.  Because, of course, if I did believe in dragons, I would definitely not want to kill one.  There is no board, so it’s not a board game.  There are no counters.  There isn’t even necessarily a winner.  And like some people’s efforts at Monopoly, can go on for a very long time.  Or for ever, in fact, if you wish.  

Back in my youth, some time ago now I know, I used to play.  There were a group of 5 regulars who played every weekend, sometimes for whole days at a time or right through the night.  We all drifted apart as the others were students who moved away when they got ‘proper’ jobs, and there was never the right group of people to start up a whole new campaign with.  But that was in and around 1986.  

And then last year, my son, who has been playing with his mates intermittently over recent years, introduced me to Critical Role.  Critical Role is a pod cast and YouTube feed of a group of mates playing D&D.  I’m watching them play campaign 2.  I’m currently 96 episodes in, with most episodes between 3 and 4 hours long, and the more I watched, the more it made me determined that I wanted to play again.  I made myself wait until I was retired, and it was my plan to pop something on our Carradale Chat after Christmas, to see if anybody was interested in joining me.  But then lo and behold, somebody popped the exact same question on the Wee Toon Community chat!!  Hurrah.  And I was like ‘Me! Me! Me!’.  

Quite a few people expressed an interest, and there was some to-ing and fro-ing about who was available, when, where and for how long.  And eventually, we have a group of people all available to play on a Sunday afternoon, most weeks, AND we have a DM!  Hurrah.  I think we’ve played 3 weeks now.  We’ve killed some baddies.  Made safe a ‘haunted house’, and are prepping for this Sunday’s session where our plan is for me to quietly swim around to the back of the smugglers ship moored in the bay.  The team will create a distraction on the cliff top while I climb aboard and capture (or kill) the smugglers on board.  And the exciting bit is that this time I have spells I can use – I can’t wait.  

Can I explain why it is I love role playing my 3ft tall forest gnome called Schh…?  Nope.  Do I need to?  Nope again.  Is it a little bit weird?  Yes, it is, but is it really any more weird than losing yourself in a JRR Tolkien?  George RR Martin?  Even Star Wars?  I don’t think it is; in fact I think it is much more satisfying.  I know there are at least a few people out there who will know exactly what I’m talking about, but if this is a whole new world to you, you might enjoy checking it out.  

I’m actually finishing this on Friday afternoon, and so naturally thinking ahead to tonight’s cocktail.  Having been awake since just after 1am today, swimming another 20 lengths in the pool this morning and having quite a challenging physical massage with manipulation of my hips and pelvis all before lunch, I’m not surprisingly a little tired.  Others might be tempted to just reach for a bottle of wine, but no, all of that means I need a cocktail that’s going to kick some ass.  That’ll be worth every single calorie, and worth the faff of making it.  And actually, I think I need something new.  I’ve been eyeing up a spiced pear martini with amaretto, and tonight might be the night to give that a go.  Watch this space guys.  I’m already building it up to be something special so here’s hoping…

So.  Whatever you have been up to this week, and whatever you have planned for the weekend, I hope there is something fun in there for you.  And if YOU have D&D in your schedule, I’d love it if you’d share that with me, and we can be excited together.