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<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0pt"><SPAN
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<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Courier New'"><FONT size=2>Hot.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Humid.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Not a cloud in the sky.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>We gathered up the grandsons and went to
the beach.<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Courier New'"><FONT
size=2> <o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Courier New'"><FONT size=2>It's the beach where I learned
how to swim.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>This was back in the
days before swimming pools were common and there wasn't "baby swimming."<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Kids started swimming lessons at five
years old.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Parents didn't hover
over them.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Most kids got to lessons
by riding their bikes to the beach.<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Courier New'"><FONT
size=2> <o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Courier New'"><FONT size=2>I started in station 1, the
station where I learned to put my head in the water and blow bubbles.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>It was all upward and onward from
there.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Now I swim laps at the
club.<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Courier New'"><FONT
size=2> <o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Courier New'"><FONT size=2>The beach is in a suburb of St.
Paul.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>It's a small lake surrounded
by nice homes, but none of them are ostentatious.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>The beach is a wide berth of clean sand
surrounded by old trees, so a beach goer has a choice between shade and
sun.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>The water is clean and we can
see small sunfish swimming happily around people’s feet.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>There are two lifeguards.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>And they’re strict.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>You do one thing wrong, like hang on the
bobber lines that define the swimming area, and they’ll yell at you through
their bullhorns.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>That’s
embarrassing.<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Courier New'"><FONT
size=2> <o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Courier New'"><FONT size=2>Outside of the beach area is a
long stretch of green grass and more old trees following the shore line.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Picnic tables and grills are here, with
easy access to the beach.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>My son,
who is a summer baby, would have birthday parties in this area.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>It worked out so well; the adults could
stay in the picnic area and the boys would splash and clown around at the
beach.<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Courier New'"><FONT
size=2> <o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Courier New'"><FONT size=2>Then there’s the fishing
pier.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>It’s long and wooden and
stretches out into the lake.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>The
sunnies are plentiful, eagerly zipping towards any worm that’s dropped into the
water.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Lots of young hooks become
addicted to fishing for more elusive fish from this
pier.<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Courier New'"><FONT
size=2> <o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Courier New'"><FONT size=2>I would never have a weight
problem if I was a young mother.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>I
must have burned 1,000 calories just keeping up with the two and the four year
old.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>I was in constant motion,
because neither of them swims, so I was the official lifeguard.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>They’re not old enough to let them hang
out on their own, especially the two year old.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>So I had to fight my slug-like nature
and give up lounging in my chair with a book stuck to face and follow the two of
them around as they explored the area.<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Courier New'"><FONT
size=2> <o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Courier New'"><FONT size=2>I kicked the two year old off
the merry-go-round, because he wouldn’t hang on and kept sliding off as I pushed
it.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>He’s a pouter and just stood
off a few feet away from us with the most hurt look on his face.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Then he pointed at the
slide.<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Courier New'"><FONT
size=2> <o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Courier New'"><FONT size=2>I don’t know how old this darn
slide is, but it was probably there from time I was born.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>The wooden steps have been replaced many
times.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>When I was a kid, they were
painted blue.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Now they’re treated
wood with no paint.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>There must be
20-30 steps leading up to the top, where a small child towers over the
beach.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>The slide part is an old
metal curly-q which was very novel when I was a
kid.<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Courier New'"><FONT
size=2> <o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Courier New'"><FONT size=2>OK, Pooch, we’re going up
there.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>And we did.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>The two year old led the way with me
close behind so he wouldn’t fall.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN>He’s the clumsiest kid in the world.<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Courier New'"><FONT
size=2> <o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Courier New'"><FONT size=2>We got to the top and I put
Pooch on my lap and we zipped and curled and slid down the slide, laughing all
the way to the bottom.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Then back up
the stairs we went and did it again.<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Courier New'"><FONT
size=2> <o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Courier New'"><FONT size=2>I was never allowed to go on
that slide as a kid.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>There it was,
the landmark of the beach, and I would look at it longingly, wanting like any
child to try out something so unusual.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN>But my mother wouldn’t let me, because she thought my butt would get
dirty from the slide.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>My mother had
a horror of dirt and heaven help me if the butt of my swimming suit had dirt
from the slide on it and she couldn’t wash it out.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>So fun was sacrificed for
clean.<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Courier New'"><FONT
size=2> <o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Courier New'"><FONT size=2>But this is a new generation, a
new type of mother, and darn it, we’re going to go down that slide, dirty butts
or not.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>After Pooch and I slid down
a few times, I just had to look at my butt.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>And yes, the jean shorts I was wearing
over my swimming suit were dirty.<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Courier New'"><FONT
size=2> <o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Courier New'"><FONT size=2><SPAN
class=299295312-06072003>S</SPAN>o what?!</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Courier New'"><FONT
size=2><o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN> </P></FONT></DIV>
<P class=Section1 style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 12pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Margaret R.
Kramer<BR>margaretkramer@earthlink.net<BR><BR><A
href="http://www.polarispublications.com/"
target=_blank>http://www.polarispublications.com</A><BR>Be a star!</SPAN></P>
<P class=Section1 style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><A
href="http://www.skywaybpw.org/">http://www.skywaybpw.org</A></SPAN></P>
<P class=Section1 style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Skyway Business and Professional
Women</SPAN></P>
<P class=Section1 style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Working women connecting.</SPAN></P>
<P class=Section1 style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </P>
<P class=Section1 style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><A
href="http://www.bpwmn.org/">http://www.bpwmn.org</A></SPAN></P>
<P class=Section1 style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Business and Professional Women of
Minnesota</SPAN></P>
<P class=Section1 style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"></SPAN> </P>
<P class=Section1 style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Bush is a "President who has no
foresight, who cannot think properly, and wants to plunge the world into a
holocaust."</SPAN></P>
<P class=Section1 style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><EM>~Nelson
Mandela</EM> </SPAN></P>
<P class=Section1 style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT face=Arial><FONT
face=Verdana size=2></FONT> </P></FONT>
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