He was drowning. My wife was directly in front of him – slightly out of arm’s reach – with her back turned to him. She later told me that she even turned to look at him and didn’t notice anything unusual. What she witnessed was the Instinctive Drowning Response:

The Instinctive Drowning Response – so named by Francesco A. Pia, Ph.D.,  is what people do to avoid actual or perceived suffocation in the water.  And it does not look like most people expect.  There is very little splashing, no waving, and no yelling or calls for help of any kind.  To get an idea of just how quiet and undramatic from the surface drowning can be, consider this:  It is the number two cause of accidental death in children, age 15 and under (just behind vehicle accidents) – of the approximately 750 children who will drown next year, about 375 of them will do so within 25 yards of a parent or other adult.  In ten percent of those drownings, the adult will actually watch them do it, having no idea it is happening (source: CDC).  Drowning does not look like drowning.

My son exhibited a textbook response to drowning:

Except in rare circumstances, drowning people are physiologically unable to call out for help. Th e respiratory system was designed for breathing. Speech is the secondary or overlaid function. Breathing must be fulfilled, before speech occurs.

He didn’t make a sound.

Drowning people’s mouths alternately sink below and reappear above the surface of the water. The mouths of drowning people are not above the surface of the water long enough for them to exhale, inhale, and call out for help. When the drowning people’s mouths are above the surface, they exhale and inhale quickly as their mouths start to sink below the surface of the water.

This is exactly what he was doing. At first, I thought he was goofing around and it seemed only slightly odd that he seemed to be sucking water.

Drowning people cannot wave for help. Nature instinctively forces them to extend their arms laterally and press down on the water’s surface. Pressing down on the surface of the water, permits drowning people to leverage their bodies so they can lift their mouths out of the water to breathe.

Throughout the Instinctive Drowning Response, drowning people cannot voluntarily control their arm movements. Physiologically, drowning people who are struggling on the surface of the water cannot stop drowning and perform voluntary movements such as waving for help, moving toward a rescuer, or reaching out for a piece of rescue equipment.

His arms were extended and appeared to be gently pressing down. This contributed to my sense that he was just playing.

From beginning to end of the Instinctive Drowning Response people’s bodies remain upright in the water, with no evidence of a supporting kick. Unless rescued by a trained lifeguard, these drowning people can only struggle on the surface of the water from 20 to 60 seconds before submersion occurs.

He was upright, slowly bobbing up and down, arms extended and gently pressing down on the surface of the water. It actually looked peaceful. I watched my son doing this for several seconds before I realized that he was in trouble. I would have mistaken his IDR for play if it wasn’t for the fact that we were recently in the water with me holding him in my arms because he couldn’t touch the bottom of pool with his feet.

I walked passed my wife, stepped into the pool, grabbed my son’s arm and pulled him out of the water. There was no sense of panic and I was surprisingly calm as I did this, but my son also appeared calm in the water while he was drowning.

(via Daringfireball)

I used an old French Press to brew my tea. Not the best but it works.

I hate cynicism, it’s my least favorite quality and it doesn’t lead anywhere. Nobody in life gets exactly what they thought they were going to get. But if you work really hard and you’re kind, amazing things will happen.

This is all very complicated, and it doesn’t really matter. What does matter is that I’ve been on the web – in some form – since 2001 and I still find it interesting.

I’m not sure what I’m going to do with this space yet, but it feels good to finally be home.