The Swimming Hole

The swimming hole was a sliver of a river--sand and gravel on one side and a cliff face on the other. A few trees grew from the rock face, but huge boulders stood at the feet of the rock cliff and from the sandy and rocky side, the ground sloped downward into a cool pool of deep water. The water was clear and green and large fish swam in the deepest parts.

A few other people were there: children who had swum to the cliff side and were playing on the rocks, an old man sitting in the middle of a floating device, the ones you lie down on, drifting slowly to the cliff side, families watching their children, sitting in chairs, relaxing in the heat and the cool water.

Ernani, Cari, Sam and I walked along the river. We waded into the water, coaxed Sam to come join us from the beach. Sam was not convinced and Cari held her in the water, but she was not a fan of the swimming. She liked to walk by the water and wanted us with her. She tolerated our swimming and did her best in Cari’s arms to be with us while we swam.

It was lovely. It was a perfect summer day.

When we returned to our campsite, we were cool. Dinner was simple but as night fell, the stars shone in the night sky between the hills and we pointed out the constellations and stoked the fire.

The next morning, there was no question that we would go back to the swimming hole. We had it all to ourselves. Except the Eagle sitting in the tree growing out of the rock face. He was 50 feet from us, above us in the tree across the river. He was big and wild and had clearly been hunting fish. He stopped us in our tracks. We watched him look left to right, ignoring us, except in his next movements, when his body tensed and his wings spread and he took to the air flying fast but smooth to the north, following the river.

We had felt blessed.

We spent the morning in a kind of meditation and happiness mixed with companionship and laughter.

We walked the river. I love the rocks. I saw the shapes of them and enjoyed the water that had made them so smooth and round and perfect. I saw the beetles in the shallows and the tadpoles and small fish that Ernani would try to coax above his hand and try to catch. I saw them get away, swimming fast as they were meant to swim. I saw the light fall from the sun to the river and get caught in the trees of West Virginia as it made its way to the water. I saw the big fish treading water until my shadow scared them and they darted off into deeper, more shaded water. I saw each boulder that the river had placed in its exact spot and each butterfly further up on the sandy shore resting it wings in the sun.

Leaving the place was hard until we passed another human making his way to enjoy the cool water on what was to be another hot day. I was glad he had disturbed the peace. It made it easier to leave the water.