Wet.

I've just been swimming in the Jesus Green outdoor pool. In the Outside. It was ace. One of few things I've done in the last few ages which has actually been added to by the rain. Not too many people, grey sky and rain to watch. Unheated, so actually a pleasant experience to swim in, as opposed to the vastly overheated indoor pools, where you sweat in the water and it's yukky. Not too chlorinated either. It must be the largest pool I've ever swum in - a full 100 yards. You only have to swim 20 lengths to have done considerably more than a mile. Satisfying. I was, and indeed still am, shaky after I got out. It's been FOREVER since I did any concerted upper body exercise. That was the thing that started giving out...my stamina was fine, and (at least while I was in the water!) I felt like I could have kept going for ages, but my neck ached and my arm muscles ached from the unaccustomed effort. I was doing backstroke, which means that you actually have a lot of tension in your neck - hadn't really noticed that before. I'd forgotten how much I enjoyed that stroke though, because it lets me breathe properly. Singers don't cope well with not being able to fill their lungs properly each breath, which is what happens in crawl, and breast stroke is disappointingly slow. Was tempted to play with butterfly, but thought everyone else would laugh at how bad I was, or think I was showing off. Which I probably would have been, for the first 5 strokes, until I got tired, and then they would have laughed... I think I'm going to have to invest in a swimming hat, despite how stupid they look and how uncomfortable they are. Damn hair. There is NO way of tying it up so that it doesn't come straight down the second I put it in the water.

And to cap all the watery experiences of today, as I came back over the bridge, there were canoeists jumping into the river in their kayaks from off the top of the lock - 5 or 6 feet above the water. It looked ace, and since I was already dripping I stopped to watch. Splishysplashy. Hee. It's nice to see the British enjoying their national weather.

I've noticed how rambly this post has become. I'm going to have a very hot shower and some food asap. And then I'm going to see how the rats are.