Lines from the Mind

Freestyle. Credit:  dpsdav at Pixabay.com A 6:30 am refugee from our warm kitchen, I was thinking about how invisible blocks in the mind can stop you from trying something new.  I had just emerged from the changing shed into the dark, having decided to give the outside fifty metre pool a try instead of the usual twenty five metre that I swam. As I walked across the tiles, I looked for a place that was open enough to view from the pool, to place my gear bag there. The signs around Jellie Park warned you about thieves although I thought thieves wouldn't be good at getting up this early for physical exercise. The chlorine from the pool was rising in mist off the surface, mixing in the darkness and floating towards my nose. I then assessed the lanes for one that wasn't too crowded and didn't have someone who was a powerful swimmer who would want to keep passing me. The plastic red and white discs of the lane seperaters dipped from the edge and lead off down both sides i...

Danger - credit to Pixabay.com The clear blue sky had no hint of the blackness I would discover later as I clambered down the rocky path from the cliff-top to Pirate’s Bay in Dunedin. Behind me, my brother and sister had struggled to keep up and my parents who carried a picnic basket. On the beach and behind tussock covered sand-dunes were bunches of other families already enjoying the waves and sun drenched sand. We unpacked our basket, spread out the rug and Mum and Dad started getting lunch ready. My brother and I grabbed our new inflatable beach-ball and eagerly ran over the last of the dunes onto the beach. We started our epic brother battle with a game of force-back. We each tried to throw over the top of the other so they were forced back until they either stepped back too far or we were able to throw the ball past a certain point. As always I had the upper hand, maybe something to do with being older! Suddenly, as I threw the light multicoloured ball, the wind picked it up ...