It’s partly cloudy out of the gates at dawn which is a good sign for how things should go today. I’ve got a birthday party for my daughter to prep for and my achilles is all jacked up so I am skipping the run today and heading right for the beach at a little after 7.

I get to the Strand and there are clouds off on the horizon and scattered in other distant skies but pretty much the entire beach looks to be below blue sky.

I leave my pack (which I don’t even know why I brought) in the car and head for the stairs. Even at this hour and at sub 60 degrees, the sun feels good on my bare shoulders.

It is low tide at the beach - below a foot and getting lower. Most of the sand is still covered by the shade of the cliffs but the ocean has direct sun light.

I walk out into the water. My achilles has been fine while swimming but walking through waves, even these little ones, agitates it so I decide to just start swimming.

I can’t make out my location from the glare of the sun the entire south bound swim to the southern point. I see the shadows of houses but often I have to keep my eyes closed when raising my head out of the water. I’m surprised when I see a buoy and notice it is the one furthest south. I lift my head to look at my basic trajectory and the point is quickly approaching.

For a brief moment I wonder if I actually put my keys in my car lock box. What will I do if they are in the truck? Do I walk home? Do I break a window with a rock? I’m pretty sure my keys are in the box and I try not to think of this.

I turn around at the end and the horizon is super easier to watch than the sun rising on the bluff. I try not to look ahead too often and just bear down and keep swimming. The water feels colder today. It might just be the earlier hour.

When I get close to the northern end I swim through several large kelp forests. The stalks are thick with leaves. I can’t see to the bottom and I am fairly far out. I wonder how tall these are. The leaves come to the surface and the vines extend outward and float on the water. There are several of these stalks each about 10 feet apart from one another. While the surface is smooth, it is also wavy and I watch these seaweed styled lily pads rise and fall in a sort of rolling manner across maybe 50 feet over the surface.

Looking underneath I can see some bass hanging out in the vines. Then I see a ray, a bat ray I think. It’s wing span is about 2.5 feet. It is not far below me but far enough that I can’t get a good picture that doesn’t look like those pictures you always see of UFOs where someone is describing this paranormal looking object that honestly just looks like a small fuzzy light on an already fuzzy sky.

I spot the Green Monster and head right for it. I circle around it and then make my way back to where I started.

I get back to my car and am relieved to find my keys in the lock box.