I didn’t expect to swim today. Rain was predicted to start late last night and last all throughout the day today. When I woke up, I heard no rain and my phone said none was due until noon. So I figure now is my chance. Conditions should be relatively ideal - no rain and tame surf. Tomorrow is supposed to have near 20 knot winds which I will likely want to avoid so now is the time.

I walk my dogs. The ground is wet but I feel no moisture in the air. I’m out of the house at 7:30.

As I am driving, I am noticing that I need to use my windshield wipers pretty frequently. It is getting more drizzly the closer to the beach that I get.

I get to the parking lot and it is definitely drizzly. Well I’m here now and I am committed. The worst that happens is my backpack gets wet but it does not seem wet enough for my stuff to get soaked.

The walk down the stairs is a lonely one. Things seem pretty empty here. This beach does not appear very inviting to the walking crowd.

The ocean surface is pretty textured and when I get to the beach it is definitely a different scene than yesterday. Yesterday was this tranquil winter dreamscape. Today someone turned down the dimmer. It is darker, windier, and the coast line is obscured from the mist. I can’t really see further north than Monarch Point which I can barely make out.

The surf is a touch bigger than yesterday but mostly mixed up and what a surfer would consider low quality. There is only one surfer in the water and he is probably wondering why he paddled out. He’ll be gone before I am done.

I make my way out into the water and the temp feels identical to yesterday. Cold but inviting. I’m glad to be here. I dive under a few waves on my way out and eventually take a left and head south.

The water is a similar lovely turquois as yesterday but much rougher. The water is more churned up than it has been in a few weeks. I’m finding that I need to keep a close eye on my aim. The wind current keeps blowing be toward shore so I have to lean right to stay on course.

My thoughts are a bit mixed. On the one hand, maybe there is a reason why I am the only one in this water. Is this wise? But the predominate thought pattern is, “this is super cool. I feel alive.”

The cold is so good. The wandering current is good. The misty coastline is good. After turning and heading back north, I look up ahead much more frequently than normal. I’m mostly heading in the direction I want to be. Sometimes I find myself pointing to the shore and other times I am looking well west of the Salt Creek lifeguard tower which serves as my guide.

I am wondering what is going on with my comfort in this water. Did the temperature improve this week? That was not in the forecast nor is it in the daily temperature readings which does not mean a whole lot. However the last two swims I have had decreased mobility in my fourth and fifth fingers and a strong shivering response on the way home. Both of these symptoms point to cold temps.

I feel like I have reached a point of total acceptance of the cold. It carries me to an almost altered state that I am trying to explain to myself. It is like walking someone through the details of a fever dream. Well you see there is a pressure that wraps around the head and then a darkness that is not scary that offers this sense of solace and you forget about the perceived forward motion of time. Everything just seems enough to be just as things are. There is an electricity surrounding every inch of skin that teams with life and gives life.

Yeah…crystal clear right?

Well ask me again about this next week. Temps are predicted to drop with the wind coming tonight and tomorrow. So we will see if I can still find this happy place then.

I’m moving alot faster heading north than I was on my south bound trip. I can feel the current washing over me and pushing me forward.

When it is time to make my last turn to head south, things definitely get more rough as I turn against and into the current. I wonder if I will be able to make headway through this and like absolutely every time I ask this question, the answer is an emphatic YES.

In not much time, here I am. Ready to head back to shore. The next question I ask is if in the hour I have been out here the swell has jumped significantly contrary to anything the surf report predicted. Well I find out the answer to this question is NO. All is well and I make it through the surf without issue.

When I get back to my backpack, it is fairly wet. I had placed it upside-down so that my towel is as far away from the rain as possible.

I dry off and suit up and head towards the stairs. What a fantastic swim and a nice way to close out 2022.