Not all heroes wear capes…

What a kid! Once, when I was younger, I decided to swim across the lake where my friend's family lived, on a dare. I made it across ok, but the trip back almost got me. Just as I thought I wasn't going to make it, I went under and felt mud about 6 inches below my feet. I can't remember ever being that physically spent. That lake probably wasn't more than a 1/4 mile wide. That kid made it almost 2.5 miles!!

Back in the early 80’s I worked with an old guy who was pushing 85. He was born around 1900. He said when he was 12-13 to prove you were a man you would swim out to the buoy in the middle of the Ohio River and swim back.

He said he and his twin brother would race to the buoy and back to the river bank.

One day as they were racing he said his brother told him I can’t make it. Worried his brother might drown he said I punched him as hard as I could in the face then took off swimming for the bank.

He said his brother wanted to kill him so he made it back to the river bank without drowning.

That’s how he saved his brother’s life.

^^

(02-04-2026 03:26 PM)CardinalJim Wrote:  Back in the early 80’s I worked with an old guy who was pushing 85. He was born around 1900. He said when he was 12-13 to prove you were a man you would swim out to the buoy in the middle of the Ohio River and swim back.

He said he and his twin brother would race to the buoy and back to the river bank.

One day as they were racing he said his brother told him I can’t make it. Worried his brother might drown he said I punched him as hard as I could in the face then took off swimming for the bank.

He said his brother wanted to kill him so he made it back to the river bank without drowning.

That’s how he saved his brother’s life.

I swear that sounds like something one or another of my brothers would have done to any of the rest of us.

That's pretty brave, by the way. If the Ohio is anything like the Mississippi, there's no way in hell I'm swimming in it.

(02-04-2026 04:51 PM)TigerBlue4Ever Wrote:  

(02-04-2026 03:26 PM)CardinalJim Wrote:  Back in the early 80’s I worked with an old guy who was pushing 85. He was born around 1900. He said when he was 12-13 to prove you were a man you would swim out to the buoy in the middle of the Ohio River and swim back.

He said he and his twin brother would race to the buoy and back to the river bank.

One day as they were racing he said his brother told him I can’t make it. Worried his brother might drown he said I punched him as hard as I could in the face then took off swimming for the bank.

He said his brother wanted to kill him so he made it back to the river bank without drowning.

That’s how he saved his brother’s life.

I swear that sounds like something one or another of my brothers would have done to any of the rest of us.

That's pretty brave, by the way. If the Ohio is anything like the Mississippi, there's no way in hell I'm swimming in it.

I grew up in the area along the river in Louisville. I lost too many friends to drowning in the river. I would never swim in the Ohio either. The river has a bad undertow.

(02-04-2026 05:31 PM)CardinalJim Wrote:  

(02-04-2026 04:51 PM)TigerBlue4Ever Wrote:  

(02-04-2026 03:26 PM)CardinalJim Wrote:  Back in the early 80’s I worked with an old guy who was pushing 85. He was born around 1900. He said when he was 12-13 to prove you were a man you would swim out to the buoy in the middle of the Ohio River and swim back.

He said he and his twin brother would race to the buoy and back to the river bank.

One day as they were racing he said his brother told him I can’t make it. Worried his brother might drown he said I punched him as hard as I could in the face then took off swimming for the bank.

He said his brother wanted to kill him so he made it back to the river bank without drowning.

That’s how he saved his brother’s life.

I swear that sounds like something one or another of my brothers would have done to any of the rest of us.

That's pretty brave, by the way. If the Ohio is anything like the Mississippi, there's no way in hell I'm swimming in it.

I grew up in the area along the river in Louisville. I lost too many friends to drowning in the river. I would never swim in the Ohio either. The river has a bad undertow.

Quote:Two times in
I've been struck dumb by a voice that
Speaks, from deep beneath peerless water that's
Twice as clear as heaven
Twice as loud as reason
Deep and rich like silt on a riverbed
Just as neverending
Current's mouth below me
Opens up around me
Suggests and beckons all while swallowing
Surrounds and drowns, and wipes me away
But I'm so comfortable
So comfortable
Shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up
You're saturating me
How could I let this bring me
Back to my knees?
Third time in!
I've been baptized by your voice that
Screams, from deep beneath the cold black water that's
Half as high as heaven
Half as clear as reason
Cold and black like silt on the riverbed
Just as neverending
Current's mouth below me
Opens up around me
Suggests and beckons all while swallowing
Surrounds and drowns, and wipes me away
But I'm so comfortable
So comfortable
Shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up
You're saturating me
How could I let this happen?
Why don't you kill me?
I am weak and numb and insignificant
How could I let this bring me back to my knees?
Euphoria
Euphoria
Euphoria
Euphoria
I'm back down, I'm in the undertow
I'm helpless and I'm awake, I'm in the undertow
I'll die beneath the undertow
There doesn't seem to be a way out of the undertow
Euphoria