Swimming lessons in the time of COVID-19

Every year, hundreds of parents enroll their children in swimming lessons. Some learn at the YMCA. Others, at park pools.

I was six when my mom introduced me to the municipal pool in our town. I remember my first whiff of chlorine and have forever associated that smell with swimming lessons, one of my life’s first tests of courage…a test where I feared drowning, but feared being the only one in the class not earning a minnow pin more.

In fear, but summoning all the courage I could muster, I put my face in the water, glided halfway across the pool into the arms of my instructor, jumped into the deep end and “swam” with all my might for the side of the pool. The final test was jumping off the medium diving board and swimming to safety.

Fighting the urge to step out of line and run to my mama, I inched up the steps and awaited my turn to walk to the end of the board. When the time came, I remember being so afraid, my conscious self somehow abandoned my shivering body as it stepped into empty space, hurtled downward and then sank several feet below the water’s surface. My body and consciousness reunited only after I bobbed up and took a deep, deep breath. Success! The minnow pin was mine!

These days, life in Dripping Springs demands some of that six-year-old’s courage as we make business decisions, decide whether to risk voting in person or opt to have our children attend school online or in person.

In Austin and Travis County, leadership has extended COVID-19 orders to December 15th, limiting gatherings to 10 or less, 6 feet in social distancing and a requirement for every person in the county to wear a face covering over their nose and mouth when inside a public building -- or outside when unable to keep a six-foot distancing. Fines for violations will not exceed $1,000. The pandemic emergency continues.

It will take courage to do all we can and to make more sacrifices until the danger of spreading this deadly virus has passed.

Yes, it will take courage, maybe more than we’ve ever known we have -- but then, life is like that. Just ask a guy named Ray Blankenship.

One summer morning as Ray Blankenship was preparing breakfast, he happened to glance out the window and saw a small gir being swept along in the rain-flooded drainage ditch beside his home (in Ohio).

Blankenship knew that farther downstream, the ditch disappeared underneath a road and then emptied into the main culvert.

Ray dashed out the door and raced along the ditch, trying to get ahead of the foundering child. Then he hurled himself into the deep, churning water.

Blankenship surfaced and was able to grab the little girl's arm. They then tumbled end over end. Within about three feet of the yawning culvert, Ray's free hand felt something-- possibly a rock-- protruding from one bank. He clung desperately as the tremendous force of the water tried to tear him and the child away. "If I can just hang on until help comes," he thought.

He did better than that.

By the time fire department rescuers arrived, Blankenship had pulled the girl to safety. Both were treated for shock.

On April 12, 1989, Ray Blankenship was awarded the Coast Guard's Silver Lifesaving Medal. The award is fitting, for this selfless person was at even greater risk to himself than most people knew.

Ray Blankenship couldn't swim. Didn’t know how. Never learned.

Have courage, neighbors…and stay strong!