I Blame the Bahamas

Growing up in Vermont and Michigan, swimming pools were not my childhood summer playground – rather Lake Champlain and The Great Lakes were the waters I found relief from humidity in. I remember a dip in Lake Superior so cold that even with temperatures causing heat waves to rise from the pavement, it felt like automatic hypothermia set in. What I remember most about the lakes I grew up swimming in is that clean as they were for freshwater – I could never see the bottom, never know a fish was approaching till I felt something slimy brush my leg and I never wanted to learn to snorkel because what was there to see? However, we love what we know. So I did love Champlain and I still have a fondness in my heart for The Great Lakes.

The problem is, I can’t enjoy swimming in them anymore.

Not, after this:

I blame the Bahamas for making me a sissy. After you’ve jetted across turquoise waters in a speed boat, swam in the waters off your own private island, received a kiss from a dolpin and snorkeled while fish swarm around you like larger, more colorful bubbles; well, you’re ruined for lake waters!

I’m apparently, very gullible and easily swayed.

Tell me, would you be any different? Would you not also prefer this warm, turquoise water over cold, brown depths?

I did experience the Bahamas courtesy of the Ministry of Tourism however I was not compensated for a favorable review. These views and opinions are strictly my own. (You can ask my mother, I know she’s ashamed of my lack of a desire to swim in the lakes she raised me in!)