As Much Summer As I Can Get

I left the house at 11:15. It has been overcast all morning but the sun started poking through here in upper Capo Beach about 45 minutes ago and I can see just a hint of golden light shining on the sand through the web cam. It seems so odd that for most of my life there were no web cams and you actually had to go to the beach to check out conditions or call a number in San Clemente for a very hit or miss report. You also had to call that number about 50 times to get past the busy signal. Barbaric.

It’s now a totally beautiful day out. As I drive north on Camino El Molino, I see a huge cloud bank out in front of me that looks like it is hovering just off the coast north of Dana Cove.

Yep. Those clouds seem to be clinging to the main point between Strands and the harbor. Doheny is totally lit up with sun and once I get to the final approach towards Selva on PCH, it’s all blue sky to the north. I turn in to the parking lot and there is a mass of heavy cloud on the south end of the beach that is likely receding by the second. There is a silvery glow over the water from the mix of cloud and sunlight. The water looks delightfully smooth.

As I head down the stairs I debate the merits of my swim route: north and south. South will be quicker which is nice and what little wind there is blowing is coming from the south right now so I should avoid the strong current. However, I look north and it just looks so perfect. Summer is definitely hanging out at Monarch Beach right now. With Labor day coming up this weekend, I need as much summer as I can get. Let’s go north!

The beach is lovely, bordering on perfect. Not a whole lot of people here right now. The water feels as it has for the last couple weeks - wonderful. I got a Facebook memory today with a link to my post of a year ago and the water was in the low 60s this time last year. It is probably 72-73 right now.

I walk out into the crystal clear water and I dive into an oncoming wave and start swimming. Oh it is so nice. I stare to my west into the blue blue sky above the horizon. The water is still quite shallow here and I can clearly see the boulders on the sandy bottom below me with sea grass clinging to them.

I cleave to the sky and water at the end of my sight with every breath that I take. I leverage that edge to anchor me to the here and now. Thoughts and memories and feelings from some unknown but familiar source try to hypnotize me and numb my experience, but I reach for the sky and then catch the ocean with my hands to pull myself into this moment.

I pass the point and the swim moves quickly ahead. Before I know it I am in front of the Salt Creek snack shop. The Monarch Bay Beach Club still looks far away. It is quiet here. The water is clear and blue and I can see the floor for the entire swim.

I swim to the half way point between the beach club and the bathrooms. The return trip goes just as fast. The water is smooth and I stare at the beach and let the greens and browns feed my soul. I choose a focal point to stare at and notice how it changes every couple minutes to another spot just a bit further down the beach. It feels more like these points choose me. My eyes just so happen to find them in front of me.

Before long there is that snack shop again and then the massive hotel grounds of the Ritz Carlton and here I am in front of the lifeguard tower at the point. There are lots of fish that swim in front of me. The small translucent Corbina. They part and create a path for me as I swim through them.

Now I’m back at the Strand and my sight goes from house to house to house until I’m at my familiar modern style home where I started. I just keep swimming and get as close to the concrete ramp as I can before I have to exit the water.

There are a few more people here now than when I started. That mass of cloud to the south has completely evaporated. It’s another perfect summer swim on a perfect summer day.