A Lighthouse Frittata!, originally uploaded by arahbahn.

This morning’s Potato, Rosemary, and Swiss Chard Frittata, the cooking of which Steve and I tag-teamed on, was FAN TASTIC. Oh, for yum. Yes, that’s it, pictured above.

Yesterday as I finished the very first length of my 72-length swim, the swimmer in the lane next to me made a hearty greeting, which was a little surprising, but nevertheless welcome. Normally I keep to myself at the Y, greeting people when it looks like it will be returned, which isn’t necessarily often: it’s a downtown facility and people are usually in a hurry.

I returned the greeting with an ebulliant, “you know, it IS a good morning!” as I fiddled with my ring, which I’d forgotten to remove before getting in the pool. As I affixed the ring to my watchband, he volleyed back an inquiry, “What’s your sport?”

I found no answer.

Mr. One Lane Over (who also introduced his wife, who was yet another lane over) could sense my hesitation, and so attempted to help me by prompting, “well, what sport are you good at?”

Finally, after briefly wondering why he asked, I produced “rock climbing,” then “running.” Lately, I’ve been doing quite well at the former, and the latter, I keep working at, and I derive some pleasure from it, as well.

Perhaps Mr. One is just a very enthusiastic sportsman, or maybe he was curious about the source of my physique, which is not the physique of a swimmer. Mr. One informed me that he and his wife’s sport of choice is swimming.

During the next 15 strokes or so, my mind moved to my enjoyment of snowboarding, and skiing. Not yoga, but that makes sense to me- it’s become more of a lifestyle and attitude than a sport, lately. Still, it’s been challenging me, lately, and mainly in the physical aspect.

This inquiry from a stranger has re-ignited (for today) one of my longtime existential quandaries. If we look at sports as activities that are designed to culminate in some sort of competition, either against others or one’s self, do they have a valuable purpose?

The Oxford American dictionary tells me that the purpose is entertainment. That seems certainly worthwhile, but a bit limiting.

Given my family’s longtime fascination with and appreciation of the Olympic games, I’m not surprised at all to find resonance in the Olympic Charter.