Sun Moon Lake II: Swimming
The path we found along the water's edge looked unpromising. We were all growing somewhat tired -- the heat was intense when the sun blazed down, and the air felt heavy and oppressive when it ducked behind the clouds. As the air grew greyer, my head began to pound. We forged on.
Finally, we found it -- an abandoned refueling shack across the street from a petrol station, with a big floating dock that extended past the water's murky edge to the brilliant turquoise beyond. The boys used the petrol station's bathroom to change into their swim suits while I wandered inside to inquire of the two boys behind the counter whether their tiny, dimly-lit gas station convenience store sold ibuprofen. It didn't.
We picked our way delicately down the cliff's edge to the floating dock, sending gravel in little cascades down the slope where it came to rest in the damp, clay-like yellow soil at the cliff's base. Clambering across the connected floating docks that stretched out into the lake, the boys could barely contain their excitement.
People strolling along the trail at the top of the hill above us stared down, many looking bemused, but no one came to challenge our authority to be where we were, and the boys jumped in.
After a few races and a diving contest (not to mention some difficulty in getting up out of the water onto the dock!) everyone was wiped out and ready to head back on shore. By now my head felt as if it were splitting in two, and everything looked oddly marbled out of my right eye: classic symptoms of a migraine. Could the timing have been any worse?! My favorite part of the the day's planned activities still lay ahead of us -- a hike up the mountain famous as Taiwan's largest producer of wide-leaf black tea. All I wanted at that moment, however, was to lie down in a dark, quiet place and try to forget that I existed.
posted by Kelly @ 1:20 PM
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