Swimming
It’s already been a long, hot summer,
and we’ve still got the hottest month left. You can avoid the heat by holing up
in movie theaters, but remember, we’ll all be stuck indoors for seven months
pretty soon. Our favorite way to survive the heat and still enjoy the summer is
to swim outdoors.
First thing you do is put on
sunscreen. Take it seriously, and get your kids in the habit. Sun burns stink,
and skin cancer really stinks.
So, you’re lathered up and your beach
bag is packed. Where do you go? Be extra nice to friends with pools; they come
in handy. But where else is there?
The city has several outdoor pools
open to the public. The community centers at 200 Avenue D (428-7934), 271 Flint
Street (428-7001), 700 North Street (428-7149), and 530 Webster Avenue
(428-7828) are all free but open only until August 18. The pool at Genesee
Valley Park is huge and beautiful, but costs $2 for adults and fifty cents for
kids (428-7888). There are also free “spraygrounds” at 500 Carter Street, 1045
Atlantic Avenue, and the corner for Fourth and Peck Streets.
If you’re willing to pay (a lot), the
water park at Seabreeze is a gas. The recent expansion of the younger kids’
area makes it more attractive for families. Canandaigua’s Roseland may be
slightly better as a water park, and slightly cheaper, but when you factor in
the trip, it’s a wash. There’s a great sprayground at the top of Seneca Lake in
Geneva, though, and that’s free.
Ontario Beach is free, of course, and
not bad as long as the algae isn’t particularly disgusting (call 274-6887 for a
report). We have Westside relatives, so we prefer Hamlin Beach, which is
enormous, less crowded, and often cleaner. Probably our favorite outdoor swim area,
though, is YMCA Camp Arrowhead in Pittsford (383-4590). It’s open to YMCA
families evenings and weekends, is free to members, and has modest waterslides,
a sprayground, and a fun, bustling atmosphere.
— Adam Wilcox
Beyond competition
When
you have become selfless, you are secure in whatever you do. — Rumi
It was brutal. My daughter’s U-12
soccer team played a tournament championship against an angry opponent. They
lost the game when five players went down to injury in a 10-minute flurry of
elbows, knees, and cheap shots. Finally, the team dropped at its coaches’ feet,
frustrated and defeated. After letting the girls vent, one coach said, “It’s
all in how you define success. You didn’t lower your game. You didn’t
retaliate. These things are more important than scoreboards.”
Pearls of profound wisdom often
appear when we are least willing to grasp them. In a moment of grace, a rough
Sunday afternoon soccer match turned into a sacred life lesson for those with
ears to hear.
We love sport, but sport is not life.
Sport is played out within finite boundaries in a brief segment of time. Life
wanders the ancient and eternal. Sport has one simple goal. Life is ever
changing and ambiguous. Sport requires us to clearly define and defeat an
opponent to gain greater standing. Life requires us to clearly define
differences and seek resolution to gain greater peace.
Fellow children young and old, we
must resist the urge to reduce political discourse, academic endeavor,
religious dialogue, cultural interaction, and personal relationships to sport.
Live deeper. These things are more important than scoreboards.
Those
who are controlled by the lower self must serve it; those who control the lower
self serve others. — Sufi teaching
— Rev. Corey Keyes
Family happenings
The
Monroe County Girls’ Sports Festival Sat, Aug 6. ESL Sports Centre, Monroe
Community College, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Register. $15. www.monroecountysports.org,
262-3832
Teddy Bear Clinic Sat-Sun,
Aug 6-7. Seneca Park Zoo, 2222 St Paul St, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. $7, $4 kids, $5
co-pay per plush animal, 336-7200, www.senecaparkzoo.org
See
more family listings in the Mind, Body, Spirit section of the community
calendar.
This article appears in Aug 3-9, 2005.
