A Nice Thought

A short and unexpected swim this afternoon. I had already run early this morning but found myself home alone early this afternoon. It was swim, nap, or yard work. I really should have done the yard work but life is short.

I left a little after 1:00. It has been overcast all morning and it looks like it might be burning off but it is hard to tell for sure. My body still does not feel like it has fully recovered from the week’s sickness and I’m wondering if I’m risking getting myself sick again. Then again, maybe this swim is just what I need to refresh myself. That seems like a nice thought, but that could be all that it is - a nice thought. Well I like nice thoughts so I’m gonna go with it.

I get to the parking lot and the breeze is starting to pick up a bit but it is still quite pleasant out even with the cloud cover. As I get further down the stairs, I can feel the sun intensify and it feels quite pleasant indeed. It’s a soft glow coming predominately from the south. The clouds seem to be coalescing to the north.

It’s low tide on the beach and the water feels pretty warm. It feels even warmer than yesterday. I head on out and soon dive in and start swimming north. Ok. This is delightful. I’m trying to swim and take air from my right side for a change and it feels super weird and unnatural. My stroke just seems to be a floundering mess. I switch back to my normal side and take mental notes on the angle of my head and the synchronization of arm and neck movements. Then I switch again to my right and try to apply those notes. I’m starting to feel like I may be making some progress but I’m far from there.

I make it all the way to the bathrooms and my hip is still feeling pretty good. I’ve swam most of the way breathing on my right. I’m closer to shore than normal. There is some good bump to the surface but the primary surf is very small again today. There is a spectrum of blue and grey in the air that trends more blue to the south and grey to the north but I’m enjoying both sides.

I head back south and I think I’m just gonna swim back to where I started. It will be short but I already got my workout in today and I really just wanted to come out here and get wet and spiritually rejuvenated and I’m pretty sure I can now check off both of those boxes. By the time I make it to my starting point I’m still feeling super good and my hip does not seem to be inflamed so I decide to go a little further. Also what’s going on with the water temperature. I swear it feels like it’s 64 which is higher than any of the buoy readings I have seen. Is it really only 61 or 62? Well I can get used to this.

I swim to the middle stairway. I’m still feeling pretty good but I don’t want to over do it so I go ahead and finish it up. Like yesterday things get super shallow quickly and then the floor rolls over small peaks and descends into little valleys. I walk south along the beach and see lots of cool shells and a beautiful white Egret.

I walk back to the asphalt ramp and head up the stairs to the showers and then to my car. I’m feeling like of my three original options of swim, nap, or yard work, I made the absolute right choice.