Short Distance Water Conduct

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In lieu of finding blog-worthy things in the suburban limbo in which I currently exist, here is a glimpse into the life of a swim teacher (me). It's almost impossible to describe these kids (or in some cases, adults) as they test out unfamiliar waters, some wild and uninhibited, melting seamlessly with the aquatic world, and some stiff and unnatural, paralyzed by fear.

There's the 4-year-old Indian boy who stands on the deck, his toes clinging to the edge of the pool, willing himself to leap into my waiting arms in the 3 1/2 feet of water below. Instead he just hops in place when I say "Jump!" Trepidation keeps him from stepping forward on his own into the water he'd already been swimming in for half an hour. He can only get himself to hop once or twice and then stumble backward, saying, "I can't do it! I am jumping!" When he does go for it, he clings to me with the pinching, clawing fingers of an animal outside his element.

In another class I teach a boy the same age, who seems to be trying to fuse his very molecules with the shifting water. He is weightless, fearless, and does not listen. He's constantly submerged, opening his eyes and mouth, trying to fill himself with the swirling freedom and fluidity that this unearthly environment provides.

Then there's the little girl who can't grasp the concept of blowing bubbles. She'll begin to lower her face to the water, exhaling, exhaling, her tiny mouth curled to release only the slightest whisper of air, and then as soon as her lips reach the surface she opens wide and with a quick and mighty inhalation, fills her delicate lungs with water.

A 6-year-old, new to swim lessons, carefully tried lowering her mouth, then nose, then eyes into the water, and before long she was gliding off the steps, kicking and emboldened and strong. Half-way through her first day, she suddenly started cheering, "I love swimming lessons! This is the best day of my life!" Success.

The other day I spent a delightful 30 minutes with a teenage girl with Down syndrome. Her favorite thing to do was go under water together, sit on the bottom, then wave at each other before twirling around in circles, coming up for air, and doing it again. Again and again. She stared at me through her enormous snorkel goggles and I marveled at the pure silence surrounding us, the simplicity of the moment. It was the kind of fun most people of a certain age don't allow you to have.

At the end of that day I swam back and forth across the deep end with a bookish 9-year-old boy who loved to chat. We discussed butterfly kick, and after giving it a quick try, he returned to the wall and proclaimed that, after backstroke, butterfly kick was his "favorite short distance water conduct." This is a direct quote. I laughed and commented on his choice of words and, after swimming another lap, he popped his head up and said, "If you're wondering about my vocabulary, it's probably like that because I spend 99% of my time reading books above my grade level. Mostly fiction."

Shiver me timbers!

Loyal readers, I am thrilled and altogether delighted to announce my most recent pursuit as a shiny new intern for the San Francisco nonprofit 826 Valencia. It's a writing center in the mission district that provides free and spectacularly fun help to kids ages 6-18 in all their literary endeavors (fiction, nonfiction, poetry, basically any form of expression with the written word).  This includes drop-in after school homework help; field trips in which a class collaborates on a story that is illustrated and published on the spot for them to take home; workshops taught by professionals in the field on things like publishing, graphics and journalism; and full-blown book projects in which students can see their work in print and for sale through major booksellers across the country.

The place also doubles as a fully equipped pirate supply store complete with peg leg sizing charts, scurvy begone, and belly of whale escape kits. They also sell publications of student work and all proceeds benefit the writing center. In case any of this interests you, they do take online orders. In fact, as a trusty intern, I just may be the one to package and ship it off to you!

826 Valencia was started in 2002 in part by author Dave Eggers who has taken the literary world by storm in the last decade. You may recognize him from his bestselling memoir "A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius," his highly acclaimed novel "What is the What" about a Sudanese refugee, and his most recent book "Zeitoun," a nonfiction narrative about a Syrian-American family in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. He also co-wrote the screenplay for "Where the Wild Things Are" with Spike Jonze, and "Away We Go" with his wife, Vendela Vida. See him talk here, with infectious enthusiasm, about starting 826 Valencia, which has since spawned locations in New York, Boston, Michigan, Chicago, Seattle and LA.

So now you know where I'll be every Tuesday and Thursday for the next few months! It's a perfect hyprid of nonprofit programming, education, and literary arts. Despite the commute into the city and the lack of wages (they are a nonprofit, after all), I am overjoyed to be involved, and to learn a few things along the way. I'll just have to keep this online pirate glossary I found handy when writing copy for the website. Now haul wind ye bilge rats!