Picture of leafy seadragon
I’m out of town today, making a trip to the Tennessee Aquarium with the family as a kind of farewell to summer. My children go back to school starting Aug. 6th. We haven’t been to this particular aquarium since Drama Queen was 3. They’ve expanded a great deal since then, so I can’t wait to get there and explore. That's where that cute little guy above lives. Isn't he darlin'?
I’ve always loved water. Love to look at it, sit next to it, hear it. The sights and sounds soothe me and yet call to me at the same time. Every month on the way to our monthly RWA meeting, I have to cross a bridge over the Tennessee river. It’s all I can do to keep my eyes on the road. I keep wanting to glance over and stare, which is certainly not safe while driving. :)
But I don’t like to BE in water. Don’t get me wrong. Swimming is one of my preferred exercises, but only in a pool. It’s the murky ocean and muddy rivers I can’t handle. There, my love of water wars with fear of the unseen. I can’t see what’s in there, so I’m afraid to move. What if I step on a crab? What if a jellyfish wraps around my leg? What if there is a shark? Not that I’d get that deep in ocean waters. I saw Jaws at too impressionable an age to make that mistake.
So I have this weird love/hate relationship with water. Or maybe hate is too strong a word. I simply dislike swimming in it with other creatures. But I love looking at them safely from the other side of the glass.
What about y’all? Is your enjoyment of water limited to the fountain at the local shopping center, or would you live in it if you could? Or am I simply as neurotic as I suspect I am?
Angel
PS: Don't forget to join us on Thursday when author Elle Kennedy braves a visit to the Playground!
14 comments:
Time for me to quit being a lurker and comment.
Water is wonderful. Especially when formed into little frozen blocks and served with vodka. It's also good in the lake that you're looking at from a lovely rocking chair on a lovely deck, or in an ocean. Looking at an ocean is neato-keeno too. Aquariums are also wonderful, as are koi ponds, some rivers, and mountain streams.
Water that you must put your body into however, is evol. Swimsuits are evol. Those nasty bathing caps required in high school swim class were evil, as was the boy you liked at age 13, who announced to the world he loved you by holding you under water until you bit his arm.
Have fun with the kiddos!
Angel, I guess we're both neurotic because I kind of have the same relationship with water. LOVE it, but want to see what's in it and at the beach I'm not keen on going out past my middle body -- and that's granted I can still see the bottom. That's why I love the Gulf of Mexico -- nice clear water. And BTW, sea horses are my FAVORITE!! I think they're amazing. Have fun.
Love the water...ocean, pond, river, stream or pool.
The little ones love the water as well.
I used to dive in the gulf, ocean and river. Very peaceful. You get up close to all forms of plants and aquatic life in their natural habitats.
I have to be able to see my feet. That's the rule. You aren't alone.
I think scuba diving might be okay as long as I can see. The unknown and unseen monsters are worse than ones I can see and avoid.
I've always wanted a salt water tank. You can actually get a seahorse for your aquarium. I thought that would be cool as a kid. Still do. I haven't been to the aquarium up there since they added on, but I did see the seahorses and they were very cool.
Hope you guys had a fun trip.
(My verification word was nlseaswim)
I love to be at the beach so I can walk right along the shore, but will only swim in a pool. I think it's because I swam in too many lakes as a child. I hate to touch the bottom not knowing what you are touching.
Count me as another one who loves looking at the water, but only wants to swim in a nice CLEAR pool. Like SP, I have to be able to see my feet.
As for the ocean, it's pretty, but I will never go more than ankle deep into it. :-)
I'm very weird. I like the water but swimming in the ocean/gulf doesn't excite me (unless I was scuba diving). However, put me on a pair of skis or on a tube in the river and I'm happy. Maybe it's because even if I fall in I can't get close to the bottom.
Instigator
I love to walk in the surf but that's about it. I'm sure my mother will pop in and tell about when I was a toddler and went to the ocean.
Aquariums are neat. We took our boys to the one in Chattanooga not long after it opened. I understand it's even better now. I've also been to the one in New Orleans and the Playfriends went to the Georgia Aquarium when we went to conference in Atlanta 2 years ago.
I'm hoping to learn to snorkle in January. The DH is treating us to a trip to the Caribbean and they say the water is crystal clear there.
LOL Sue about the little frozen blocks in vodka! That's priceless.
kansassue, you are a woman after my own heart.
Angel: ditto. Should have seen me in Hawaii -- I rarely got in the ocean, and when I did, I spent the time looking around at my feet and whatever was nearby. No matter how often I told myself the sharks preferred the surfers, I just couldn't like the ocean. And I won't get in without aqua socks. No way, no how.
Back to revision hell....
I'm with you sister, neurotic!!! I'm a pool kind of girl. And Sue has the right idea too!
robertsonreads
Well, I'm so glad to see I'm not as weird as I thought I was. :)
We just got home and everyone had a great time. Even though Little Man spent the whole trip there telling us how he didn't want to see the sharks, he did enjoy them once we got there. They had a special jelly fish exhibit this time that was cool and we got to see them feeding the sharks. There were also bunches of turtles. No seahorses this time, which was disappointing.
All-in-all, a great day!!!
Welcome, kansassue!
Angel
I went and looked at that Tennessee Aquarium website and that's a nice place. I'd love to take my girls there to see it but with gas and everything so expensive it's not going to happen. It must be nice to have money to travel like that. I can't wait to here about your trip to San Francisco. I would love to visit there too. Heck I'd love to visit anywhere besides my parents and my husband's parents. That's about all the vacation we ever get because we don't have to pay for a motel. My husband has to travel on his job. I keep asking if he can take me along with him but I never can. :-( Maybe one day.
Years ago we took a two-week cross-country trip with my inlaws. The boys were 4 and 8 at the time. We stayed in inexpensive but clean motels, but always one with a pool so the boys could swim off their excess energy before bedtime. We carried a cooler in the minivan and kept it stocked with stuff to make sandwiches and with drinks. We had a bag of snacks as well. We had a picnic lunch every day instead of eating in a restaurant and we never bought snacks at gas stations. We also carried a coffee pot so the DH could get his coffee fix each morning (this was before the days of motels having coffee makers in the rooms) and I could also heat water for instant oatmeal. We ate cold pop-tarts or fruit and cheese. Most days the only meal we bought at a restaurant was dinner/supper/whatever you call the evening meal.
And despite the Motel 6's and pop-tarts, it was one of the best trips we ever took. The boys got to see Yellowstone National Park, the Devils Tower and Mt. Rushmore. And we visited with relatives in Nebraska, where my city-slicker kids got to see what life on a farm was like.
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