Aqua Zumba at the Y

In February, my doctor told me to get more exercise. My knees told me to stay off land. So I signed up for aqua Zumba at the Y, a dance class in the pool. I'm sixty-seven.

There were twenty-two of us in the water, mostly women in flowered swim caps, plus two brave husbands. The instructor stood on the side of the pool in a neon tank top, dancing to loud Latin pop music and shouting, "Shake it! Shake it! Higher!"

It's very hard to look graceful while doing salsa steps in four feet of water. Nobody tries. We splashed each other constantly. One of the husbands got so into it that he did a full spin and went under. He came up laughing.

The music bounces off the tiles. The water makes everything feel light. For one hour, my knees don't hurt and I feel like I'm twenty and dancing at a club.

I've gone three times a week since then. We call ourselves the Water Babies. Last Friday, we had a pool party with cake on the deck.