Unequivocally I had intended to spend time at the pool today.  Last night, in recognition of my advanced age and associated (incremental) decomposition, I had resolved to “take it easy”. That meant, lounging by  the pool and swimming.  Swimming was the alternate to bicycling. And because the weather was predicted to be favourable – mostly sunny with some cloud beginning early in the afternoon – it all bode well for my project.  Afterwards I would entertain my photography hobby by attending the yacht basin on the other side of the condominium.

What I hadn’t contemplated was spending as much time by the pool as I did.  I was there from about 11:00 am until about 2:30 pm.  And I didn’t mind at all!  Apparently I needed the break. Between bouts of lying face up, face down, reading (with my back to the sun) and swimming, I dozed uninhibitedly and satisfyingly. It was in sum a thoroughly delightful day. I won’t say the pool is my favourite – I prefer the one we had at Beachside Tennis in South Beach; or, the one at the Privateer on Longboat Key; or, the one on Amelia Island.

But it is only a reminder of the value of novelty. What I do like about the Sea Pines Resort pool is its complement to the yacht basin of which I never tire. So apart from that hasty reflection I had an entirely rewarding day by the pool today.  My swimming was far from an exhausting exercise but it enabled me to stretch my legs fully and perhaps pull apart the disintegrating spinal discs somewhat. It was by any account a more elongated exercise than on the bicycle.

When I left the pool and regained my bicycle (which I had stationed just outside the compound at the convenient rack), it instantly pleased me to pedal once again.  Apart from driving my car, bicycling is my next favourite diversion.  They both involve motion, limited speed, discovery and distance.  I sometimes wonder whether I haven’t an aversion to complete immobility. Possibly driving and cycling mirror reactions to my fear of bald contemplation. Even if that were true, I could care less.  At this late stage of life, the only thing that counts is whether I prefer to do it or not.  Any other discussion of propriety is irrelevant.

As I cycled around the yacht basin I found a new path overlooking the adjacent golf course and Shark Bank. The seafront homes have an Italianate feature to them, notably different from the predominantly plain, hue coloured homes of the interior.