Blue Mind

I've been reading Blue Mind: The Surprising Science That Shows How Being Near, In, On or Under Water Can Make You Happier, Healthier, More Connected, And Better At What You Do  by Wallace J. Nichols.  At the same time I have thought about an uncle of mine who lives in the same house that he was born; a house without a bathroom. He has a toilet in a bedroom, a hand washing sink in the kitchen, and a shower in the cellar but he has no bathtub.  He's never had a bathtub.  As far as I can remember, I've never seen him swim or sit in a boat.  Showers are great and they can be very refreshing but I need more water than that.  If I go an entire summer without floating in a boat I feel deprived.  Now that I swim 3 times a week I don't feel the need to take baths as often.  I crave water.  I always have. In the water I am pliable and graceful and athletic.  On land I'm arthritic and I limp. I was the kid who was the first one in the lake for swimming and the last one out. Other kids would leave the water and sit in the sun shivering under a bath towel.  I stayed in the water.  And when I visit the ocean, I sit and watch the waves come in, come in, and come in because I know, living in the middle of a continent, I'm not going to see those waves for a long time.  I have to soak in the wave motion and savor it so it lasts until I can return.  Waves are as mesmerizing to me as a campfire. This book confirms why the water is so important to my peace of mind.  I remember meeting a stranger in England and talking to him about where I was from.  He asked me, in all seriousness, "How can you stand being so far away from the ocean?"  He lives in a country that is an island.  He's never far from the ocean.  I didn't know how to answer him.  All that could come into my mind is that someday I will live near the ocean.  Being a lover of water, I already believed all that was written in the title of this book.  Water does make me a better person.  This book only confirmed my suspicions.