it's been while since i've had a chance to write. but now i'm back in the saddle with plenty to say! and of course, now that you've got the skype thing down to a pre-gallilean type of science, our communication is better than ever.
so. remember in my last letter how i passive-aggressively attacked your parenting skills for forgetting to teach me to swim? well, i'm over that now. i've decided to channel my feelings into art instead.
this is a still from my performance piece called 'drowning in the shallow end' and i'm dedicating it to you. rightly so, for there were plenty of real 'oh dear mom' moments: being lapped by the grandparents, then again by their grandchildren... getting a charge of electricity IN THE POOL from the dry swim cap... and for the final act, having the top half of my bathing suit undo itself (which redeemed me somewhat -- with the grandfathers, at least) in the midst of thrashing for the very life you gave me. think it will be a hit?
swimming is a real challenge. luckily, my swimming teacher has the kind of patience people in our family can only dream of. he understands our special brand of oppositional thinking -- like when he says 'float', i immediately start to 'sink'. or when he says 'arms first, then legs', he says it knowing all appendages will flail out with Shags-like arrhythmia. (remind me to discuss your musical abilities in my next letter.) he hasn't wept openly yet -- although we ARE in a pool and it would be easy enough to hide, no?
i shall keep you posted on my progress, useless goggles and all.
to the dearest dear mom in all the universe!
love always,
gina
