Chicago has one. It’s enormous. And it’s not just for uber rich people! It’s for everyone.

The part that I go to has many rocky places. But if you go into the water far enough, it’s all smooth sand. I start at the rocky end, where there is a small, still pool, and look at the sun and it’s long, watery reflection. I walk along the water line and look for amazing rocks and glass, but honestly, they’re all amazing. I mean of course they are, they’re rocks. I make small talk with them.

“Oh, look at you! Aren’t you just gorgeous. And you! Those little bands–I can’t stand it! Do you want to come home with me for a little while, spend 2-60 years with me? Yay! You’ll be in good rock company.”

And my feet go in. And it’s quiet.*

It is delicious, caring, silence that your skin sucks in through all your pores and the water coaxes you to give up your land habits and slowly become part of it. And before you know it, you’re in over your head and it’s wonderful. And you become your real Self because water doesn’t judge. It wants you the way you are, whether you’re a starfish, a seahorse, or a manatee. You can take up your space in the water because it makes room for you. All of you can fit, and the infinite pool welcomes you.

And then you can play like we forget how to do sometime between the ages of three and thirteen.

I recommend standing in shallow water and looking through your legs at the horizon. It’s the quickest and easiest way to scuba dive. The top of the water is above you, and you are underneath, but breathing easily. You can look up to the surface and see a different world above you. Then all of dry land becomes the new world, and you can look at strangers with the wonder we reserve for sea turtles or whales. You can see them as they really are, which is beautiful. The trees become coral that is a precious commodity for us to protect, and buildings become the incredible engineering of humans, like shells to nautili.

And we get to stay here forever!

 

 

 

*Because let’s face it: I’m a (reluctant) morning person. I don’t want to poop out at nine and wake up at five, but I also don’t want corporations to take big chemical dumps in my river, and I can’t do much about that, either.**

**Yes, I’m aware that I could be an activist, but if I were, I would start with making sure Black people get to live, and receiving health care without going bankrupt is a human right, and that billionaires who go into space stay there.