Tuesday morning seems to be when all the local islanders with Down Syndrome come to the pool. I finished my laps on one side, then sat in the jacuzzi, watching, while they reveled in the water. One guy with loud, unintelligible groans that could only be construed as sheer delight as he bopped an inflatable to and fro. Later, I sat in the moist, soupy fog of the steam room with another guy who made more muted, but no less discernible auditory expressions of sensory exhalation. And in the locker room, as I was preparing to go, three more guys were toweling off, getting dressed and engaged in the most riveting yet completely incomprehensible conversation I’ve ever witnessed.
The whole experience was magical from beginning till end. I’ll have to remember Tuesday mornings at the aquatic center.