WHERE IS THE FISHY?

When Erik was 5 years old he had a gold fish. He liked that fish. The fish's bowl resided in Erik's room. Probably not the best idea for a 5 year old because one day I went into his room and there was no little fishy swimming around the bowl.

After a quick search I found the fish behind the dresser plastered to the wall.

"What happened to the gold fish?" I asked Erik.
"I tried to hold him and he jumped," Erik said.

A fish out of water usually dies, though there is a fish called the Killifish that has been seen surviving outside of the water. He can alter the way he breathes.

A fish out of water is how I feel on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings. Well, I'll admit it's usually only one or two of those days not usually all three, but the point here is I can't believe I'm doing water aerobics and loving it.

There are several reasons that this is a stretch for me.

First, I hate water. No getting around it. Hate is really the right word to describe my aversion to water. Maybe that is why my showers are always so short. The reason is simple, I can't swim. I never learned. My fear of the water is real and consuming.

If you'd just relax you'd float," Art always tells me.

That is so not true, once in the water I always sink like a stone. The deep end is my worst enemy.

Second reason this is such a surprise is that I have bad feet and knees. Botched bunion surgery and arthritic knee caps makes for much pain from my waist down.

And last but not least, is the freezing temperature of the pool. The exercise pool is always very cold, and it makes my muscles ache due to my lupus.

SO WHAT IS THE APPEAL?
It might have something to to with the fact that I'm the youngest person in the class, and that feels good as I'm quickly approaching 60.
Or maybe it's that I am one of the thinnest in the class, and that is with the extra 10lbs. that I am dragging around right now.
I'm only kidding, that kind of thinking would be so shallow.
The real reason is that after the initial pain passes it is helping me to strengthen my knees and I'm moving better. I might be able to climb those hills in Vanuatu after all.

"Hmmmm."
Maybe I'm really not feeling like a fish out of water after all.