Aquacizing with Aretha

Working out is not usually a surreal experience. However, Geoff's semester break afforded me the chance to attend Tuesday morning's Aquacise class at my gym. Because of how pregnant I am, my choices in classes are limited. As in, for a pregnant lady, stationary bike is not an option, neither is pilates and I can forget Morning Burn, which had been my favorite. (Up at 5 am having an energetic Jamaican woman shout at you, "We're here to work hard, ladies!") So, I was not sure what I was signed up for when I show up on the pool deck with about a dozen women, all older, different backgrounds, ranging from elderly physical-therapy patients to kindly empty-nest moms with graying hair and Christmas earrings.

The teacher was energetic and told me she did jumping jacks and sit-ups through her ninth month and all three of her kids "came out fighting." She told me this group has been meeting for several years and that they all chat through the class but that I would get a good workout. The class was about an hour of doing short laps of running, knees-up marching, and no hands striding. My favorites were her choices of music: We warmed up to Aretha, and knees-up marched for the entire length of "Kiss" by Prince. We cooled down with the crooners, against the pool wall like aquatic ballerinas at the barre while Dean Martin pleads, "When an irrestistible force such as you. . . ." One woman shared that when she took her son shopping this weekend, they had to walk 8 blocks to the store and HE was the one who got winded. The teacher responded, "Yes! This is healthy you high-functioning! This is the point of fitness!" The ladies were kind and asked how far-along I was. They even invited me to lunch after Thursday's class. I'm sure I won't go but it was nice to see into a little window. Disparate ladies brought together by their semi-weekly gatherings to be weightless in the water, to float and be lithe while being passionately serenaded by divas and sappy romantics.