Aeneas Visits the Y.M.C.A.

As I walk around the perimeter of the pool at the water aerobics class at the Y, I do not join in many of the exercises that the other women do (and the class is totally female).


I’ve just had a knee replacement and--with my Parkinson’s Disease--I have all I can do keep my balance.


The women in the class come in different sizes, and there is an unpretentiousness about them that  I find appealing.


One woman is enormous and bears her extra weight proudly:


She wears a flashy flowered swim suit and says that the suit is as bold and colorful as she us.


Many of the women are overweight, and even those who are not are showing signs of aging.


Cellulite abounds, and various moles and age spots litter their skin.


And I also struggle with these same physical attributes.


But the other day, our instructor told them to paddle backwards sitting on their buoyant boards while she worked with me on a different exercise at the other end of the pool. Then they were to return to us.


And when I saw these women paddling  towards me,  I was reminded of Book 8 of  The Aeneid.


The Trojans are at war with the Rutulians, whose prince plans to set fire to the Trojan fleet. 


But behold, a miracle!


Jupiter will not allow this and,  instead, turns the ships into beautiful sea goddesses, who revel in the ocean.


I don’t know quite why The Aeneid should come to my mind, but I think it is not an inappropriate thought. 

That inanimate ships should be transformed into beautiful nymphs seems to parallel the situation of the women in my course.

For they are attempting to transcend their mortal limitations by returning to the water.


And it tickles my fancy that we are all becoming sea nymphs in our own way.

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