The Young and the Old

As I sit by the water’s edge I am accompanied by three elderly people. They do not move from the beach chairs. It seems as if they have set up camp there and do not intend to leave anytime soon. It’s nice to see people of this age out to the pool. Out of all the weeks I have been here I have never seen people of this age by the water. It clear that the water isn't what has attracted them to the area but in fact the sun has. The strange thing about this is that it’s not that warm. As we approach winter it gets colder and colder and the presence of the sun means less and less when it comes to how hot it is. I think that’s why they are here. It is usually too hot for them around the summertime and now they can get the sun’s rays and always lie out at a reasonable temperature.

I stand corrected as 15 minutes later then dismount the chairs and put their bathing suits to good use. When you compare the difference between watching how the area is used by the elderly to how the younger people use it. Firstly, we can see that the older people have slower movement with next to no splashing and are quite far away from each other. They just kind of glide through the water as the surface barely ripples. Also, they engage in a lot of conversation they are enjoying each other’s company. Whilst on the other hand when I have seen the younger people engage in the area it’s always with a lot of physicality. They are diving into the pool, splashing around and making sure that half of the water ends up outside on the concrete. They don’t engage in much conversation just physical gestures. Whether that be fooling around with their partners or mucking around with the boys. Also another difference is the amount of skin. With the older people the bathing suit cover almost everything, the women is wearing a one piece and the two men are wearing ¾ length shorts. As we compare that to the younger people, the girls re always wearing bikinis and men are wearing short shorts above the knee.

It’s clear to see all the differences between young and old and it’s very interesting to see the difference and what age does to the way that we enjoy this certain activity. More importantly though we can see that no matter what age we can still enjoy it in our own way. Another week and more evidence that shows how positively this place is reflected in the minds of everyone.