Ned Merrill has been away for most of the summer. He reappears at a friend's pool. As they talk, someone notices that there are pools spanning the entire valley. He decided to jog from pool to pool to swim the whole valley. As he stops in each pool his interactions tell his life story.
Merrill is clearly driven by inner forces. His friends are baffled by his determination to complete this quest, "swimming home", which we immediately intuitively understand. His passion is monumental, as are his oblivion and decades of neglect of those he holds most dear. His odyssey leads from love and power to despair and ruin.
