Off the Deep End

The End of the Deep End -- from Mark Momford of SFGate.com a beautiful essay on the loss of the chance for a loss of innocence in this safety-obsessed, lawyer-oppressed world of ours...

"...if you're anywhere over 20 and grew up in just about any worthy suburban American town and endured anything resembling a worthy American childhood, the deep end of the swimming pool probably meant something to you, as a kid.

"Something mysterious. Something scary. Something foreboding and scary and magnificent, because when you were about six years old the deep end very much represented that sudden slap of terrifying summertime anxiety -- particularly if you were new to swimming, new to the pool's otherworldly challenges, its beckoning aura of happy splish-splash impending doom.

"It was powerful. It was magic and dark and transformative and the deep end was that area of the pool you ventured into extremely tentatively, excitedly, all about that rush of delicious fear and desire and quiet panic and determination. You know, just like life.

"The deep end was, of course, the place to face your demons. To test your mettle, your fortitude, your burgeoning superhero powers, to see if you could dog-paddle sufficiently frantically all the way to the opposite edge without drowning and when you made it you felt this crazy rush of pride and love and power, your little heart beating like a crazy techno remix because you were now strong. You were godlike. You were the water-bound Thwarter of Death. You were six years old.

"Here's why you should care: The deep end is vanishing. Maybe you didn't know this. Cities are filling them in, hotels are redesigning their outdoor amenities, backyard-pool manufacturers are no longer building pools with areas deeper than five feet."

The safety nuts have gone off the..., oh, never mind.