I am, on the other hand, really, really tired o.o Because I just got back from the beach, where I spent what I doubt was even half an hour swimming like my life depended on it. Because, for once, it actually did!

My buddy Saki sends me a message asking if I want to go to the beach with a couple of people this afternoon. Of course I want to go to the beach, I -LOVE- the water, I've been playing and swimming in it since infancy, and I have many adorable and hilarious stories involving that. So I pile in, meet some new people, and off we go to my favorite beach, down on lovely Perdido Key, FL.

We all get in the water after the appropriate preparations, sunscreen on, items that are not waterproof safely in my backpack on shore with all the shoes and towels, me blowing up a little pool toy inner tube type thing, etc. I want to specify here that I did something really dumb: I failed to eat breakfast today, and was already pretty tired when we went in, but it's never been a problem before. Someone observed that the current was unusually strong today. But we were having a good time.

I don't know who realized it first. I suspect it may have been me, but in any case it did not take long for everyone else to figure out that we were very, very suddenly in way over our heads and a lot farther from shore than we were a moment ago, and in moderate surf (yellow flag, if anyone knows what that means). And this was especially problematic because two of our beach-goers were not proficient swimmers, at all. Thank god for the little pool toy that could! The weakest swimmers latched on for dear life and started trying to follow the two stronger of us back to shore, swimming semi-parallel to land so as not to face exhaustion. I think i might have been the only one who didn't panic; I kept checking on everyone, keeping things light. I want to clarify also that I am not a good swimmer. I am very, very strong, have great endurance in the water, and am totally comfortable whether it be a swimming pool or open ocean. After a while, i can't be sure how long, I stopped to rest on the 'little pool toy that could', assisting in steering it while the strongest swimmer was close enough to shore that I didn't have to worry about it. A minute later I caught purchase of land, started tugging the two non-swimmers and the third got off and walked, at which point, their cries for help had been met with a trio of surfers coming out to assist the bedraggled lot. I was asked if I needed help, and I specifically remember saying, 'I'm fine, help THEM' as I dragged my sorry ass into shallower water. I almost went back in after our last poor soul, who was nearly swept back out still hanging on to the pool toy for dear life before a surfer caught him and helped him out. He stumpled onto shore and (sorry, this is a little graphic) immediately ejected about a liter of sea water he'd swallowed, and the best swimmer was on shore having an asthma attack. Lifeguards and EMTs finally showed up. The poor girl having the asthma attack is heading for the ER because we got swept way too far from the stuff and her inhaler was there, with no one having enough left in them to run for it. But everyone is apparently okay. And I helped just a little in making that happen. I feel awesome, I'm not dead and neither is anyone I was with. This has never happened to me before, but I have more reason now than ever to get stronger and make sure it never happens again.

More later. Going to eat something finally.