musings, life lessons & poetry from Theresa Jarosz Alberti

Tag: YWCA

The Mermaids of Lake Nokomis

What does it take to find bits of magic in your life? Sometimes all you need is a lake and friends and a desire to move your body. That’s what happened for me.

It started in July of 2020. Many of us women had been taking water aerobics classes at the YWCA for years together, several times a week. We’d become a community who knew each other’s faces and stories, who laughed and breathed hard, and sometimes complained together.

When COVID came along, of course the Y and everything else shut down. As the summer ticked by, one of our members who had been a former water aerobics teacher had the brilliant idea to start emailing to see if anyone was interested in having some unofficial classes at one of the city lakes a few times a week. Everyone loved that idea. Continue reading

Poetry Challenge – Day 9

 Welcome to Day 9 of my 30-Day Poetry Challenge!

Comment on today’s poem to win a copy of my poetry book, “(After) Confession… I’m giving away a copy every day. Scroll down below the poem for more details about this Poetry Challenge.

But first, congratulations, Ann R. K, for winning a free copy of my poetry book! (I do a raffle from those who commented on yesterday’s post.) Ann, I’ll message you about delivering your prize.

Now onto today’s poem. Don’t forget to comment, and check back tomorrow to see if you’ve won!

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This one is for my writer-friend Shari, after the discussion we were having in the pool today. And a shoutout to all my Pool Pals!

Lessons from the Pool Continue reading

Body Joy

I’ve been going to our local YWCA for many years, but it’s only in the last 18 months that I’ve started hanging out regularly in the women’s locker room.  When I do “dry exercises” (like cardio equipment or weights) I come already in my gym clothes and leave after exercising, changing at home.  But since I’ve been doing water aerobics twice a week, I’ve been showering and changing there (with its hot tub and seemingly endless supplies of hot water!).

 I’m not particularly modest, nor are most of the women there.  I now get to see a variety of women’s bodies uncovered by clothing on a regular basis.  Continue reading

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