S-P-L-A-S-H Week at the Marin Y

She was just a little too perky for PP’s tastes. What with her cool little black rimmed glasses, dark bob, and lithe form.

Of course, Dashingly Handsome Boyfriend was enjoying the show as Perky Miss hopped on and off chairs, pasting big sparkly blue letters on the viewing glass partition overlooking the pool of the Marin YMCA.

S—P—L—A—S—

“Splaaaz?” PP asked as she plopped down next to DHBF.

“No, silly, it’s Splash. For Splash week,” she admonished, wrinkling her pert nose and shaking her head. Some people!

Grinning, PP glanced over at DHBF before continuing her interrogation. “What’s Splash Week?”
”The letters stand for:
S wim
P lay
L earn
A ss (okay, PP made this one up)
S ink (and that one too)
H elp “(With the previous two letters they were gonna need this last one.)

“That’s cool,” PP nodded. “I never woulda figured that out.”
“Me neither,” Pert One admitted. “I found it on the Internet.”
“Ah.” Of course, any and all information whether it’s important or not can be found on the Internet.

Pert One continued hopping up and down on the chairs next to the glass partition to position the letters just so, much to DHBF’s delight. Her pale long legs enticingly close to his merry eye. Of course, PP couldn’t blame him. She was right there after all. Even though she couldn’t have been more than 15. Well, maybe 17. Who can tell anymore? Everyone seemed about 12 to PP lately.

”It’s a week where EVERYONE gets to swim!” PO exclaimed, her big brown eyes shining behind her thick lenses.




PP was dubious about this prospect, but encouraged her to elaborate, “Everyone?”
“Yes. There’s a lot of people in this world, you’d be surprised, who never get the opportunity to swim or don’t have access to a pool where they can learn and so during this week before Easter, (PP wondered if there was some significance to this? Like Everyone was gonna be resurrected if they drowned?) the Y has SPLASH week and invites Everyone from the community to swim for free.”




This idea really scared PP. Imagine! Good thing the Oakland Y didn’t promote any such do-gooder program even if it was in the name of swimming!


Nodding, PP started to gather up her stuff so they could head out to their little cabin in Inverness for some rest and relaxation. Sorely needed after her busy week at Woo Woo U and the hectic swim she’d just survived at this Marin Y (Yes, Oblivious Swimmers and overcrowded lanes exist at this Y too. Seems the Y is not only an equal opportunity swim community for SPLASH week, but also an equal opportunity swim center for Clueless Lap Swimmers too!)

“Well, have fun during your Splash Week,” PP called out as they headed toward the front door.
PO shook her head, wrinkling her nose, and then sighed. “I suppose. It’s a lot of work though. But EVERYONE deserves a chance to Swim at least once in their lifetime, no matter what!” she exclaimed, prancing off to get some more tape or other adhesive material for the last “H”.

So, yes, she was a bit too pert for PP’s liking, but then again, she was cranky about the impending community event. This made PP like her better.

Oh, and she believed that EVERYONE deserved a chance to swim regardless of their life station.



While such Swimming Altruism seemed impossible, PP liked the sentiment. It was, as you all know, her own core belief too. Swimming cured all and was all.

So, she’d let the perkiness go…just this once. After all, it was for a good cause!