Swimming

In the middle of swimming laps today I was suddenly taken back to earlier years; Stockton California in the latter part of the 1950's. Swim team practice early in the morning at the Park Woods neighborhood pool, a bit chilly even in the California summer. Then back after lunch to swim and dive and water tag where if you were under water no one could tag you it. Waiting for Mom and Dad outside the gates after five o'clock (there was no swimming without a parent after 5:00 p.m.) - sometimes feasting on a licorice flavored snow cone, deep green in color!

So much sun time in those summers that I was a very, very deep shade of brown! Swim meets against teams from other neighborhood pools; mostly backstroke and breast stroke, a few ribbons here and there. The tension and excitement of the competition!

On other days the family donned our swim suits and piled into our blue and white 1956 Chevie station wagon and headed to the Stockton Channel where ocean going ships would bring their cargo inland. We played in the sand and reeds along the shore until the waves from the ship's hulls would send us riding skyward-shoreward on the inner tubes we brought with us.