but even before she played organized sports , and for as long as she could remember , she loved physical activity , running , skating , kicking a ball , swinging from a tree , or even more elementally she reveled in physically being alive to sensations , the feeling of being a presence in a world that was material : the feel of grass under her feet , the flexing of muscles when she walked , the tightening of her buttocks and crotch when she stood up , the feel of rain on her head , the goose bumps on her arms when she got wet and a breeze washed over her , the taste of ice cream and the feel of the cold slivering down her throat , the urgent and rhythmic sound of waves pounding on the beach .