List

-twins on a bicycle built for two, the first turns to speak to the second over his right shoulder as he peddles, the hood on his sweatshirt slipping

-twins, riding one behind the other on uneven terrain; hats small on heads, heads large on bodies, bodies large on bikes

-young men on a bicycle built for two, one dark-haired and one fair; collegiate, convenient

-couple, aged; he is folding a blanket with a watery floral pattern and she will pack it in her pannier; they’ve rested a while but are facing the same direction again

Swimming

I stopped swimming. It wasn’t a decision so much as a consequence. I honestly thought it was probably just a delay in swimming. I was busy packing again and in between the sorting and purging, the wrapping and the containing, the swimming pool became inaccessible.

Wait, that isn’t entirely true.

The outdoor swimming season was almost over and I remember this now. As it was approaching, I noticed that they had stopped cleaning the tank. There were bandaid flotillas and a hair clump skimmed the edge of my mouth. These were the things I saw and felt. It got harder to breath thinking about things invisible.

There was also the matter of getting there. It isn’t that there weren’t enjoyable aspects. I liked the ferry a lot. In fact, the ferry was a thing that stopped me from being able to leave that city for a long time. But what about being able to cross this water with your bicycle on a boat? I thought about this. It was something only insiders knew, like who has to yield when two cyclists approach the same intersection at the same speed in the dark. Having insider information is nice. It isn’t something I have here, in the new place and maybe that’s why I’ve stopped with swimming for the time being. I know there is a beautiful swimming pool in this city. It’s 50 meters long which is the best length and I’ve read that it has a retractable roof for the summer so you can feel the sun on your back or your face, depending on your stroke. The annual membership fee is reasonable, even with inflation and I am such a good swimmer. I never learned to breath bilaterally but instead trained myself to breath on my right side every sixth breath although sometimes I fall back to every fourth which is respectable. I know where the swimming pool is and how to get there on foot or by bike. Swimming is this thing I have been doing for a while now with skill, commitment and discipline and yet I cannot get to the point where I want to do it again. I know how to do it but at the moment I really just want to do something else.

List

-tall priest on bicycle wearing glasses and sport coat in oversized houndstooth print

-woman wearing French worker chemise, bicycling while brushing her hair, ash grey

-couple, looking at each other while bicycling; she cradles a bright yellow cake box in her left arm and doesn’t struggle to keep it level