Happy Birthday to My Bestie - Sharon

It's Tuesday, it's a swimming day, but most important, today is my BFF Sharon's birthday, so Happy Birthday, Bestie! Of course, I have no card and no gift for you. I looked and looked for the perfect thing, and came up empty. If I find THE ONE THING before you come up for the State Fair, I'll buy it and send it to you. But if I don't, we'll shop at the Fair and I'll get you something there. I feel awful about not having the perfect gift, but at our age, it needs to be perfect - not just trying and not achieving the goal. 

It's Sharon's birthday today. She's a little bit younger 
than I am. I'll even let her give me a hard time about 
being older every now and again - LOL. I'll keep 
looking for the perfect gift, though. It's got to be right 
for a milestone birthday like this one. 

It's a swimming day today, so I'm back out in the 50 meter pool. Watching the swimming at the Olympics, I can only sigh. Wow, just WOW. These swimmers are so fast, they just cut through the water. I'm a good swimmer, but I've never been a speed demon. I have good endurance, but I'm always happy when my 50 minutes or so is completed and it's time to gather my stuff and go back indoors. Still, I love the water and it's what calls to me, keeping me active in my old age, just as it did when I was a kid. Swimming and the pool is one of the constants in my life - things that have been with me from as far back as I can remember. Swimming can join reading in that list, along with writing. I've always been a writer too. 

Our outdoor pool is a 50 meter pool, just like at the Olympics. 
I don't keep track of my laps, but I know I'm SLOW compared 
to these young kids who are tearing up the water. They are 
amazing and so much fun to watch. 

I hope many of you are watching the Paris Olympics too. I'm sure that the broadcasts are different for each location in the world where you are located, but isn't it all so thrilling? I do love that competitive spirit, and the fact that through sports, people who would be political enemies can be sporting friends - at least for a short time. Competitive sports is a great leveler - it's totally based upon physical capabilities, not politics or agendas. The individual athletes change from time to time, but the goal of friendly competition remains strong, and interaction (or icy acknowledgement in some cases) between the athletes actually does help with international understanding and common ground. 

So proud of the men's gymnastics team for winning 
the Bronze medal. They did great! Not perfect, but 
damned good. I do wonder how they would be placing 
if Russia was competing, but it's rather nice to not 
have Russia in the Olympics for a change. 

So, as I get ready to head to the swimming pool, after a hot and semi-sleepless night, I'll be happy to jump into the cool water and do my laps. I might not be a speed demon, but my body is always happy after a good workout, and a happy body is a happy me - LOL. I hope you all have a wonderful day ahead of you. I wrote two versions of the current writing challenge - now to sit down with them and see what can be merged into a single, final version for submission. Slava Ukraini.