"Don't go near the water until you can swim ! "  Can you swim ? I cannot  --- unless a semi-dogpaddle or a short distance under water qualifies. On those rare occasions that I am in a pool, the shallow end is just fine, thanks.  And the ocean ? well, ankle deep is about the right depth. Was not always like that. As a youth, Sunday fun was going with friends to nearby Pullen Park in Raleigh. And when Mr. Schaub installed a pool at his residence, my brother and I were often invited for a Sunday afternoon swim. I donot have to search very far in the canyons of memories to locate this current (didn't mean to make the pun) aversion . . . I have almost drowned on three occasions, or thought that I might and those traumas were sufficient to keep me on dry land. 

   When I was just 3 or 4 years old, my dad took me with him to the 'municiple beach and swimming' pool in our mill village . . .a spot on the Haw River named the 'Hearn Hole'.  For reasons long forgotten, I  held dad's hand and went under water for just a moment.  And, now 80+ years later I remember opening my eyes and being slightly terrified.

    I have heard that when some folks believe they are dying they have their life flash before their eyes.  When you are just 12 years old, the movie is short. Our Scoutmaster organized a trip to the Raleigh YMCA.  Noting my reluctance to go  into the deep end, he and the Assistant Scoutmaster encouraged me to dive and that they would guarantee my safety.  I jumped and in the brief time before I felt safe, I think I had a 'roll call' of all sins, real and imagined, in my past.    As a college student I somehow passed a PE course in swimming.  In future years, from a short  distance from shore, I joined my children in riding waves on inflatable rafts.  But then . . .                     

    On a family beach trip to celebrate our parents' 50th Anniversary, I had ventured out maybe 50 yards and chest deep with a brother and our daughters. While walking back towards the beach, suddenly I was in water over my head. When I came up, I waved to my other brother for help only to have him wave back to me.  After a few more steps the  realization came that I had stepped into a narrow deep trough. My brother explained that he thought he was returning a friendly gesture.                        The 'Big Scare' occurred when suddenly I was caught in a rip tide. After telling my daughter and her friend not to come near, I asked a stranger for help. After sitting on the sand for a long time, I went briefly back into the surf at a safe depth.  That occurred approximately 40 years ago and since then I am content to sit and watch the sunrise over the Atlantic--- from a safe distance.

   Trying to understand why these thoughts recently came to the forefront, I remembered a scene from a movie we watched last week in which the male lead actor drowned attempting to rescue a person whose sailboat had capsized in a storm at sea. And then a couple of days ago, I was watching a continuing ed video on grief and observed a therapist assisting a father whose 19 year old daughter had drowned.

     The Summer  Olympics have begun and there will be lots of swim events. I will watch with admiration from the safety of my den.

    Perhaps it is fitting that for most of my life, I have been a United Methodist. Rather than total immersion in water, we believe that wetting just the top of the head is adequate.

      Be safe .

         Satchel