Week three results: It's a start!

So I didn't blog last week. That's fine, I have no readers anyway so no one was sad. But I actually did get a start on my quest to learn to swim recently!

This past Saturday I went canoeing with a couple friends. Yes, with life jacket firmly strapped to me. But I shed the life jacket when we pulled ashore on a sandbar, shed some clothes and took a swim in the lake. Well, they swam, I just kinda stood there, bobbing up and down in the water.

But hey, that's a start! Not going to learn to swim if I don't get in at least! For the millionth time I tried the various methods of treading water that people have tried to explain to me over the years. They were, again, to no avail. But still fun none the less. Meanwhile, a real show boater had to swim by us while he was swimming across the lake. Jerk. Actually seemed nice enough, spoke to him briefly as he walked past on the shoreline afterward.

So here I was feeling all good about getting in a lake again. Then I checked the news and saw another drowning death, this one in the very lake I was in, Lake Nokomis. Since then I have read of other drowning deaths in the area as well.

Are people drowning at an unusual rate lately, or am I just noticing the articles more now that I am set on learning to swim. Or could be the local news caught wind of my intentions and are running every water-related accident they come across. Figures they'd do that to try to freak me out. They're the jerks.

I haven't taken the time to write this like I had intended. I like to use the excuse of my needing to focus on my job hunt. Which would be a more justifiable excuse if I was going hardcore about this job hunt, which I'm not but need to be. I did have a phone interview a couple days ago, but my hopes are not up about it. We'll see.

Doubt I'll have anything new relating to my swimming to report next week, but perhaps I'll try to do a recap of all the drowning news I seem to be coming across lately to prove it's not just me.

At least, I hope it's not just me.

First week results: none

Not off to the best of starts. In that, I didn't start at all yet.

Had a pretty busy week. In between my continuing job hunt, also enjoyed the MLB All-Star week festivities. Watched the home run derby Monday night and the All-Star game Tuesday night. Wednesday though I was reminded why I need to learn to swim.

Went and saw Predators Wednesday night. There's a scene where they're all fleeing the Predators and fall down a steep hill into a large body of water and swim to shore. Well, what if that was me? What if I was fleeing Predators and fell into a deep ass lake? I'd be dead on their hunting grounds without even being killed by them. That'd be a bummer way to go.

So that's another reason to learn to swim. In case I'm ever being hunted by Predators and I fall into a large body of water, I'll be able to swim to shore and maybe prolong my life by a short amount before they get me anyway. But knowing how to swim obviously does not mean you can always do so safely.

Another swimmer in Minneapolis drowned this past week. A guy in his 20's was doing some late night swimming with some friends in the Lake of the Isles and drowned. This comes just a short time after another guy in his 20's drowned in Lake Calhoun, which is right by Lake of the Isles.

But on a much more positive note, my cousin came to visit this week and we went to a Twins game and Spring Lake Amusement Park. If you've never been to Spring Lake, it's the best mini golfing the Twin Cities has to offer. Go. Now!

Hopefully soon I'll get this swimming nonsense on its way and have some positive progress to report. In the meantime, go see Predators, and go to Spring Lake. Both awesome.

Introduction

My name is Seth. Yesterday I turned 30 years old. I don't know how to swim.

This has been a source for mild embarrassment through my life. Any time that it is mentioned, it is always met with a scrunched brow and a "Really?" More so however, it has been a source of frustration. Why so frustrating? Because swimming looks like a lot of fun.

Like, serious fun. You've been swimming I assume. Is it awesome? Yeah, I thought so. My reaction around water is to keep my distance, and if I find myself in it, to never let my feet not be firmly planted on the bottom.

Swimming does not run in my family. Two of my sisters can kind of float, but no one can swim. My mom doesn't go in the water, but her husband is an avid water skier despite not knowing how to swim. He just trusts life jackets a bit more than I do I suppose.

I even almost drowned in a river once when I was 12 or so. Perhaps that's a story for another day.

But I am stating today that I will learn to swim now that I'm 30. It gets no easier the older you get, so this should be interesting. My motives are twofold; one, as previously stated, swimming looks like crazy awesome fun; two, I need to motivate myself to get some things accomplished in life, and I think that if I can overcome the odds against learning to swim at the age of 30, I should be able to get on with other goals that keep seeming to get delayed.

So here's the plan. I'm gonna scour the internet for any and all swimming-for-adult advice that I can find. I will try to hold myself to getting to a lake or pool once a week to practice these methods, and report back here how well it goes. I hope that by sharing the humiliating results with you, and perhaps with some mocking from you, I will find the motivation to FINALLY learn how to swim.

Or I'll drown for real this time. We'll see I guess!