Hi all!
I saw some very fat sparrows sitting around a nestbox this morning, so I think it’s another sign spring may be actually about to happen? 🌱
Hope you’ve had a lovely couple weeks-been busy here with multiple projects, but always love making time to write this newsletter. To the shock of no one who knows me, I love the water. Whether it’s a pool, a river, a pond or the ocean, I’m happiest near water. So this week, it’s time to go a little aquatic.
Let’s grab a cuppa and take 5 minutes to focus on the little things! ☕
Mel xx
(P.S. there’s a little bonus content this week too!)
The Simple Joys of Swimming
My body craves the water. I see people swimming on TV, and there’s nothing I want more than to be with them, bobbing along.
I head to the local pool. I smell the chlorine from the changing rooms and it draws me to the water. Lowering myself in, my body takes a moment to adjust to the temperature, cooler than the warm air around it. I then take the plunge, immerse myself completely, push my hair back and put my goggles on. I’m ready. I kick off the side and allow myself to zoom forward, taking small moments to float before beginning the next stroke.
Every time I submerge, my body reconnects with previous watery moments. I think back to learning to swim in the local pool with its corkscrew red tunnel slide. Of holidays swimming after hiking all day, watching the rain through the glass outside. Of swimming in the sea every summer, and body boarding in South Wales. I am also reminded of swimming under the stars in summers gone by, a luxury of staff parties at the community-owned lido I worked at for many happy seasons. These are the memories I love, the ones where I am transported through sheer touch to a completely different moment in time, remembering it as if it was just the other day.
Under the water, my anxious thoughts lessen. My brain that’s constantly working overtime becomes quiet, simply focussing on counting strokes. My body drives me through the water, and soon I gain a rhythm, back and forward, length after length. My mind returns to my body.
Am I a great swimmer? No.
But do I adore it? Absolutely.
Later in the day, when I’m sitting on the sofa, I will catch a waft of chlorine still on my hair. I smile, and dream of being in the water once again.
What I’ve Been Reading
Felt appropriate to include a book focussing on the water for this issue-so bringing in one of my favourites currently waiting to be re-read.
I have fallen in love with cosy books over the last few years. It’s so great to just nuzzle into a book and feel like it’s giving you a big hug. Libby Page was my introduction to this genre, and remains one of my favourite authors to this day.
The Lido focusses on two swimmers (one in her twenties, one in her eighties) coming together to save their local lido in South London. If you want a wonderful feel-good read focussing on friendship and the power of community, this is the one for you- and if you like it, the sequel comes out in a couple of months (I cannot wait)!
And finally….a weird animal fact!
Did you know octopuses feel colour?
Octopuses are colour blind, but can still change colour to camouflage into their environments.
How?
First, their eyes see the darkness, texture and layout of a scene.
They then take apart the light (called chromatic aberration) and focus on separate wavelengths to give a rough idea on what colour they should become to blend in.
This info is then sent to their tentacles, which feel the changes in wavelengths to sense the exact colour and scatter light across themselves to match the surroundings.
Octopuses are INCREDIBLE. I am slightly obsessed.
Bonus Content
Last week, I had an article published on Globe Soup, a writing website, focussing on making writing fun again. Whether you feel stuck with your writing, or are looking to try writing for the first time, I hope this article can help.
Thank you for reading!
I hope you enjoyed it-feel free to let me know what you think, and what little things make your day. If you know someone else who would like this newsletter, spread the word!
Can’t wait to hear from you, and have a great day!
Just been talking about swimming with mum and planning our next lido visit. She has a copy of The Lido on her book shelf but I've never taken the plunge(!) I will add to it my "to read" pile now