Sunscreen

I thought I'd solved my problem when I found an online store with a retail location in Minneapolis. Then I browsed their line of sun-protective swimwear. Not exactly what I was hoping for, but I'll keep it in mind in case I get drafted to swim for Team Islam.

Sink or Swim

My first crisis is now.

I want to learn to swim. To do so, I'm going to have to join a gym. Here's the problem: the only gym I can find that 1) has a pool; 2) is affordable; and 3) is close to my apartment is the YWCA. Even though the YWCA is a "nonprofit membership association" and not a for-profit company, it has many of the characteristics of a chain. So of course I should steer clear of it.

But: dragging myself to the gym is difficult under any circumstances. Why make myself less likely to go by enrolling in some distant fitness center? And also: a friend has generously offered to give me swimming lessons, with one caveat: I have to do my learnin' at her pool. Where does she swim? The Y.

So that's that.

I'm also going to need a new swimming suit, something sportier and less mortifying than the American flag-patterned tankini I already own. I managed to locate two non-chain swimwear shops in the Twin Cities. The first, Pure Blue Swim Shop, is in Plymouth. The bus doesn't go there. It does, however, go to Rah Sports in Richfield. Unfortunately, my phone call to Rah was answered by a machine, and the company's laughable website makes me wonder whether the store exists at all.

My first lesson is Sunday.