I’m in the process of washing a bunch of clothes tonight, including a cashmere sweater that reeks of chlorine.

Jay wore it all afternoon in the University swimming pool as part of his week-long, Learn to Return training.

I let the kids skip nap today so they could go watch Dad getting strapped down in a cage and thrown in the water. Pretty cool stuff.

He was receiving his helicopter underwater egress training while we were there. Brave man. I’m glad he’s doing it. Maybe someday I’ll be willing to be secured in a four-point harness and flipped upside-down in the water. That time is not now.

Mom was not real thrilled when she heard what those people had been doing to one of her kids.

The girls took it all in stride though. Very controlled environment: Mom wasn’t freaking, and Dad smiled after he came up, so it must just be more weird grown-up stuff. {shrug} Why can’t we get closer to the water? Why is everybody wearing a yellow helmet? Why isn’t that guy wearing one? (The instructor. Also the only person in a wetsuit.)

Later this week: Snowcaves and makeshift shelters. Note the “nice mukluk” in the snowcave pix. They do that sort of thing too. Jay brought home some great stories last year. This is his second time through the training. He said the being flipped upside-down thing wasn’t as stressful this time.

He came home with a cool black and red cap, too, with learn to return SURVIVOR embroidered across the front.

But I couldn’t try it on. He said he was given four guidelines for it:

1. No one else can wear it.
2. You can’t wear it backwards for fashion. (Welding, yes, to make a statement, no.)
3. If you don’t like it, run it through the chip-shredder (with dumpster divers just throwing it away isn’t good enough).
4. Don’t die in it.