Well it’s the day after Christmas, and I haven’t made it into the water in a couple days because its been busy and running is a lot less time consuming than swimming given the time it takes to get to the beach and back, a longer shower and writing these posts.

I leave just a little before 9 and it is clear and beautiful out. The last few days the highs have been in the upper 60’s and low 70’s which I cannot complain at all about. It is getting close to 60 as I leave.

As I drive to the beach I am both excited to swim and a bit nervous of the cold but I am skewed strongly toward excitement. However excitement is not necessarily how I would color my mood today. Mornings have been a bit of a struggle these past few days. I can’t really articulate why. I just find myself inundated with feelings, fragments of memories and dream like images. I believe there are times when you can choose your thoughts and when you can that is great and I’d like them to be on the brighter side. Other times it feels like your thoughts choose you and at those times I wonder if it is best to give yourself over to them. I feel like there is something they are trying to tell me or like there is something to be learned by exploring them. It feels like threads of thoughts are all crisscrossed and an unnamed energy is singing to me from far away.

I just need to get to that beach and start swimming.

Well I do manage to get there and it is good indeed. The tide is high.

As I get close to my launching point, I see a small pod of dolphins just past the surf line. I don’t usually see them in the Winter. They will be long gone by the time I am out there but I am happy to see them now. They are so close that I can hear one blowing out its blow hole.

I make my way into the cold water and every stroke is a blessing. I manage the cold well today. There are just a few moments where I can feel an overwhelm coming on but I pause and open to the cold and all is good. From time to time I feel myself swimming into a clearing of warmer water where the color becomes a darker blue and other times I make my way into a mist of cold where the color goes grey. These colors and temperatures are fitting metaphors for my state of mind this morning.

I get to my northern turnaround and discover that my camera is frozen and I won’t be able to take any shots until I can reset the battery - not a good thing to do in the water. So not a lot of pics today.

I end the swim, dry off and head back to the car. I listen to Tina Malia’s rendition of Hare Krishna on the way home. I love the Hare Krishna chant and Tina Malia’s voice is so so beautiful.