Well it seems Spring is coming out for a little visit today before it runs off tomorrow for a day of overcast and then a few days of rain. The high today is 65 and it was 60 this morning at 10 when I took off for the beach. These days it feels like 60 is the new 80.

On the way to the beach just a block from my house I see a car with a tire mounted on the back. It has one of those leather covers and on the cover is a rendering of the back side of Sasquatch/Big Foot. You have surely seen these around. Big Foot is just stomping on ahead to god only knows where and he is slightly hunched over. The unique aspect of this one is that his hand is up and he is giving us the finger. I’m not sure why but I find it hilarious. You can imagine he is on the curmudgeonly side and he is probably pissed that so many folks are trying to spot him. He obviously just wants to be left alone. At this point he has been alive for centuries and he is too worn down to chase people off so the middle finger is the best he can muster.

Not long afterwards I see a big U-Haul style truck that has big letters saying “Zuni’s Movers.” Then in the upper right corner of the side of the truck it says “We do moves!” Well…of course you do. You are movers. I’m not sure why they thought they needed to emphasize that point. Maybe it should say “We do more than just moves!” Just like the Burlington Coat Factory sells more than just coats. Or the Boot Barn sells more than boots. Then again I’m not in marketing for a reason.

I get to the beach and I can feel the warmth on my skin and it is good - very good. I just have a short sleeved shirt on now (as well as swim trunks) and it feels like June. The water looks very inviting.

When I get to the beach it seems extra rocky today but I think that is because the tide is slightly higher than yesterday and hiding the sand. The surf looks even smaller than yesterday - almost flat. As I am getting into the water a couple guys ask me if I see any fish out there. I tell them I haven’t seen hardly any in the last couple months but when the water gets warmer you see a lot more.

I try to make my way out in the water along the same path that I took yesterday to avoid rocks. I take the plunge and I am off.

Today the water has that two-tone thing going on that I saw a couple weeks ago where the water is sandy brown for the first hundred feet and then abruptly becomes blue. Once I cross the boundary from brown to blue and the water clears up a bit I immediately feel warmer - not warm mind you, but I welcome this.

Once I am about half way down the beach I start to see a lot of debris floating in the water. Mostly pieces of wood. It’s not lumber but looks like dead limbs that somehow got pulled into the ocean. There is quite a bit of this until I almost reach the southern terminus of the swim.

As I turn and head back north I cross this same debris field. Every now and then I can feel the sun’s warmth radiating on the surface of the water. There are a couple of patches that feel almost “delightful” as I pass through. Today it seems as if I feel the cold mostly in my arms and the back of my shoulders. Overall everything is lovely. The water is smooth today and a bit more visibility out here in the blue zone.

Again, as has been my habit over the last several swims, I try to concentrate on the present moment of the swim. I try to welcome the state of the water as it is right now. The more at ease I am with what is happening now it seems the more comfortable I feel. I feel like we have finally passed a threshold with the cold where it is dang cold but no longer crazy cold. The last couple winters before this one I longed for 60 but this winter just 58 would do just fine thank you. I mean I’ll absolutely take 60 but give me 58 over 56 any day. I find the pattern of my thoughts and my experience with the cold starting to match what it was in mid to late February before things got arctic in early March. Those swims over the past couple weeks were really about survival.

When I get to the northern terminus, there is some gross muck accumulating on the water’s surface that I try to avoid. There are a couple mid sized boats floating about not far from where I am.

I make my way back and notice what looks like a thick stalk of kelp stretching from the floor straight up to the surface. Then I see a buoy floating on the surface just above it and I realize it is just kelp that has accumulated around the rope hanging off the buoy. The buoy is a vibrant blue and orange color and it looks cool against the green and brown cliffs on the shore.

The time comes for me to head in. I re-enter the brown zone and the temperature takes a noticeable dip. That’s ok. I’m just about done here. A couple small waves roll over me and then I hit land.

I grab my pack and pull it down to what little sand I can find and dry off and put on a shirt and over shirt but no need for my sweat shirt today. It has not been this warm in a while.