Another late swim. My son has discovered the joy of waking early so we do our grocery shopping before church and then I swim after. This does have the happy side effect of getting to the beach when the air temperature is about 15 degrees warmer. Like yesterday, its an absolutely beautiful Autumn day. It’s 71 degrees outside and very little wind. I’m trying to get as much as I can out of these next couple days as weather is supposed to sour midweek.

The sun feels so good on the trip down the stairs and the water looks lovely. There is less wind than yesterday (not that yesterday was windy) and the surface is pretty smooth. It’s another low tide day today and the shore is particularly wide. Much of the sand holds a thin layer of water and reflects the sky and cliffs like a mirror.

The water feels chilly on the feet. There is no one in the water here except a sea casting fisherman in up to his shins. Well to my south there is a small pack of surfers in full wetsuits. I’m surprised there are no kids playing in the shallows. Kids don’t care how cold the water is and it is such a perfect day to play in the water regardless of age.

I walk on out and let a smaller set of waves break against my waist. As soon as I start swimming, a larger set comes in and breaks further out which is right about where I am. It’s not that big and I enjoy feeling the energy of the waves pass over and through me. Initially I am thinking that the water feels colder than yesterday but soon my body sort of rights itself and things don’t feel all that extreme. Surfline has been reporting 62 for the past few days. I’m gonna say 63 but I’m not going to resort to violence if someone disagrees. The water visibility has definitely degraded since yesterday. I can still see the ocean floor but it is mostly obscured. However there are a couple spots that offer up some decent clarity.

Overall, this feels like a good place to be and I try to just let myself get lost in my stroke. That would be my swim stroke. I’m not actually having a stroke.

In so many ways, today’s swim feels like a repeat of yesterday but it is also completely different. Like yesterday I very much feel the swell in the water. The surf is relatively small but I can very much feel the lines of waves as they pass over me. The surf report says that the swell is “steeply angled” and I’m not all that proficient about what that exactly means but maybe it is why I can “feel” it so acutely? I feel it from all directions. I feel myself pushed, I feel my body being repelled from forward movement, I feel the wakes of water coming at me from the side and into my face. I like this. The water feels alive. It feels like the water wants to interact with me.

I’m thinking of the church service I just came from. I’m thinking about how the language used seems to make God feel so far away. The more they talk about heaven and especially the more specific they talk about what those in heaven are doing right now this instant makes it feel all the more distant and weird and unbelievable and unrelatable. I think about how when they pray and talk to Jesus with words like they are inducting him into some kind of sports hall of fame, he feels more fictitious than real. I’m thinking that if they talk about trans-gender issues one more Sunday in a row and mention how it is one big act of Satan (or “the enemy”) I am going to implode. I’m thinking of the discussion I had with a new friend right after the service who is in the same line of work as I am. He talks about how he stopped “working for the man” and got into block chain technology and works for himself now. He must be doing something right if he can afford to live in Laguna Beach. I’m thinking maybe I should start studying up on block chain.

I’m swimming right on the line of warm and cold. I’d honestly say mostly on the warm side but with the anticipation that cold is just on the other side of me and threatening to consume me. Part of me relishes every bit of this experience. How is it that I am the only one here doing this? I do enjoy the solitude but this feels like a PR or marketing problem on behalf of the ocean. I want to yell at the top of my lungs toward the shore, “Hey guys! It’s just as good as it looks out here. All’s clear! Come on in!!” Another side of me is looking forward to going home and drinking coffee. By the way that is exactly what I am doing now as I write this and it is worthy of its own blog.

Over the final stretch from the north end of the beach to my finishing location, visibility improves. Probably because I am swimming further inshore and the water is more shallow. There is a woman swimming in the surf as I reach close to shore. She yells over and asks me how was my swim. I reply enthusiastically that it was great - because it was and I don’t want to lie to this nice woman. She asks if I am training for a triathlon and I tell her that I just do it for fun - most days this is true too. Because of the low tide, it seems like a long walk to dry sand. Looking south across the expanse of most of the beach, there are tons of exposed rocks and it looks like some other planet - a pretty cool looking one.

As I walk up the stairs, there is a woman carrying what I assume to be her daughter on her shoulders. She does not appear fit (but what do I know?) and as she speaks to her daughter I can tell she is struggling. I would love to offer to carry her daughter on my shoulders to give the woman a rest. Unfortunately, that would just be weird.