"Fresh breath has always been a priority", (or something that goes sort of like that) said that kid from 16 Candles. That kid always makes me laugh. Even if there is nothing funny. Just thinking about him. The Geek. Brilliant. So I keep finding myself returning to john hughes films lately. Returning to my breath, too. Not just minty fresh breath. But cleansing breath. There's something so therapeutic in consciously breathing the fresh air. The heat is setting in so I'll be needing to get up very early or very late to avoid the hot stagnant inferno of day in the desert. But like all things, it will be brief. In the pool today I swam so hard and I held my breath so long. I love staying under as long as I can. I love swimming under the water with my eyes clamped tight. I am totally returned to my youth then. I come up just in time, of course, to gulp the air and it clears my head. Big belly breaths as I break the surface. I hold hands with Hail and she pretends to be a dolphin. We go under the water and play guessing games and wave. I have spent hundreds of hours swimming with her. She loves the water as much as me. Maybe more. Yesterday she clamped an ice cream bucket over her face and figured out a way to breathe underwater. She is skilled. And inventive. I am trying to be those things too. I love pretending with her under the blue. Diving in the deep end for pennies. Playing "rock school" on the steps. Little Sister has started joining in too. She waddles along the step and clings to the edge of the pool cement. She is almost big enough for floaties and then the games will really begin. I watch them in the water sparkles. The sunlight on their blonde hairs. A few more weeks that white white streak will turn green. Mermaids. Another great movie from my youth. Swimming pools, movies, and fresh air. I'm glad summer is here. I'm always a little sad to see it go. I hope my girls someday know this joy that they put in me as they hold hands and swim and recapture the feelings of their own youth. I hope they remember me there alongside them. Happy, strong, and swimming deep totally in love with summer. Sent from Yahoo! Mail for iPhone