Status Updates From At the Pond: Swimming at th...

In The First, Davies returns to her lifelong of swimming for the first time in years in the wake of a major breakup. Struggling with body image issues, she travels from her home to the Pond, where she meets a friend and together, they sink into the pond. Overall, I enjoyed the thoughts in parentheses sprinkled throughout though I do think this may be the most lacking essay since the first two in Winter.

The ninth essay Landmarks was rather miserable in tone as the writer both craved to be desired by those around her but also felt uncomfortable. She searched for bodies of water anywhere she went to dive in, to experience even a bit of joy as she struggled to give into pleasure. There were many beautiful sentences in this essay, and the footnotes were well placed.

Echolocation was rather fascinating with a comparison of the writer to a bat as she navigated immigration, Brexit, the messiness of her cosmopolitan immigrant life. The lack of proximity to the Pond except when she had to scurry past it with no time and so many worries as if she was always passing by like a tourist rather than a resident.