I left for the beach at about 9:30 this morning. The air was 52 degrees and I could feel the warmth of the sun but I felt like I had been encased in ice for most of the morning. Note that I get up at 4:30 and I’m sorry but it was just plain cold in that dark hour.

So even though I could feel hope of warmer times to come radiating on to my skin, I simply was not yet ready to embrace warmth in the now quite yet. I’m willing to admit that may just be a personal problem.

Regardless of temperature, it is an unarguably beautiful day - crystal clear sky. This is made all the more welcome by the rain we got on Monday and Tuesday.

When I get to the beach I keep my sweatshirt on for the walk down the stairs even though the warmth of the day is growing more palpable by the minute.

I’m wondering what the water is going to be like. It was pretty cold last weekend (60) especially com[pared to the 68 just days before, but Monday’s water temperature forecast called for “slight warming” in Orange County due to the southern winds of the week’s storm. It’s just hard right now to get my head around the possibility of an ocean that could have gotten warmer over the past couple days. The vast majority of the hours between now and last weekend have been below 60. What could move the temps over that line. Well, nature is complex and I don’t at all doubt these things are possible.

So I get to the sand and it is a 5.9 high tide and water is immediately touching my feet and ankles - not too bad. Certainly not as bad as my imagination was conjuring up on the way down the stairs. I’m surprised yet not surprised by the not so frigid temperature.

Let’s be clear - this is not warm water, but it’s not as cold as it could be this time of year. Two years ago at this time it was 55.

Surf is not flat but not big. I make my way out and this temperature is very doable. At first I am thinking it is basically the same as the weekend. Then after a while, I am realizing it is indeed warmer. It’s probably just a degree or two warmer but in the 60 zone, 2 degrees go a long way - 74…76 - whatever. 60…62 - please please give me 62!

The rest of this story is a very happy one. The swim was just so great. Even though I was generally on the cold side, it was a pretty mild cold. The stunning beauty of the morning made it very very much worth my while.

There was very very low visibility in the water but it was mostly blue. It will likely clear up some as we recover from the rains.

Lots of seagulls on the water for whatever reason today. It’s not uncommon to see one or two but I saw several groups congregating especially on the southern end of the swim.

As I reached the north end, I got a pretty good view of the outside breaks at Salt Creek. It looked like some decent size over there.

Once I got back to shore I didn’t bother towling off or putting on layers. I just grabbed my backpack and headed directly back to the car. The sun felt great.

Passing the little lifeguard hut at the base of the ramp, there was a beached bouy sitting there that I immediately recognized by what was written on it. I wonder if it got washed in by the storm. That seems odd because it was way past the surf.

All week the thought of getting in the water with the cold and rain has seemed so unpalatable and right now I cant imagine any more enjoyable way I could have spent this hour. OK…maybe I have a few ideas but this was pretty darn great.