In Wind and Rain....

Yesterday I did my eagle project out at Antelope Island. The weather was well… not desirable shall we say. When we first got out to the island the wind was blowing something fierce. And we were on the beach front! It was like standing in a 360 degrees sand blasting machine, sand got everywhere, in your nose, in your eyes, in your ears, in your mouth. It even got in your clothes that were covered! I had so much sand in my shoes it was like having arch supports. So here we were out in the middle of a giant sand blaster trying to build retaining walls out of logs. Everybody had to yell just to be heard over the noise of the wind, and you had to keep moving so you wouldn’t freeze to death. And could you believe that we were all having fun? We finally got one of the walls built and put in place, then it started to get colder, but we kept going. Then we started to work on the second wall, which would be twice as big as the first! We built it in two sections then put them where it needed to be. Then it started to rain! A cold driving rain, and it wouldn’t let up! So we were all out there freezing cold, and wet, trying to finish. Then the ranger in charge showed up and said that the park manager wanted the second wall done a different way! So finally after about an hour of debating, and freezing, and getting wet, we decided what to do. We were going to cut the second wall apart and move it to where it needed to be. But first we had to dig all the sand out that we had put behind them so we could even budge them. But still before we could move them we had to move sand to where they had to be. It took us over a half of an hour to move enough sand and level it off. Once we got all the sand taken care of we started to move them to where they were supposed to be. It turned out to be a lot easier to move them then we thought. Once they were in place we still had to put the last two layers on them so they would be tall enough, and while some of us were doing this there were others trying to backfill the retaining wall with even more sand! Now don’t forget that it was raining the entire time of the debates and so forth. Well we finally got it all done, and in five minutes we were gone. Later we met at my house for some hotdogs and hot chocolate. That is a project I don’t think that I will ever forget though. Working out in the driving rain and sand in thirty eight degrees weather was hard yet it was still immense fun. It was probably all the friends and family I had with me.

The First Blog

"2, 1, go!" I just sighed as I listened to my coach yell at us to start yet another set. As you can guess I was at the pool yet again. I couldn't believe that I was actually swimming for Davis High School. The fact that DHS even had a team was amazing I thought as I took a deep breath and kicked off of the wall, yet again. I was really starting to wonder if I needed air when spots started to appear under my eyelids. But it is normally by this time that I finally touch the wall and take a huge gasping breath. Most people say that thinking to yourself none stop is crazy, but I mean, what else are you supposed to do during a non-stop 500 yard swim? It is barely audible under the water but yes, the coach is yelling at us to swim faster again! I am continuously thinking, "Well how are we supposed go faster with this many people?" but somehow the pace always picks up. Isn't it amazing how a lot of the time you know the person by their suit color or design better than you know their face? And then, wham, I can't feel my wrist. These lanes are so small! How am I supposed to swim when I am continuously getting nailed by someone in the other lane? I mean it takes the other guy out too, and I don't think that he appreciates it either. But then the needle hits the top and we're of again! One, two, three, four, five, and bam I kick off the wall again. I have a million things to think about; am I to deep? Did I kick off to early? I am Pacing the first 25 right? Ah... It's all those things that make swimming a difficult sport mentally when you have already been burned out at school. You know going through Mr. T's class Money's, etc. But then there is always the physical part, football players have problems doing what us swimmers do. I mean, how many football players do you see that can swim a 100 yard Freestyle in under one minute? And then there is Breastroke, most people can not even swim that stroke properly, the same with Butterfly most people do this weird dead fish flopping type stroke! Swimming is even a full contact sport, I have had people fall in on top of me, whack me. I know a kid who kicked in the face so hard it cracked his goggles. And then bam, I get whacked in the face, that subject seems like it is jinxed. Oh man now my eye hurts, and it might blacken up on me. I wear Swedish goggles they have absolutely NO padding, it is plastic against face. Most people can't even wear them because they take about a month to get used to. Now can you imagine getting whacked in the face while wearing these? But hey, I guess that is the average 5 minutes of practice for a competitive swimmer.

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