Eight Seasons
Left the house a little after 10:15. It’s a beautiful day out and the sun is shining. It had been overcast all weekend with no sun at all here in Dana Point and then yesterday the sun returns. I’m happy it is still out today and hoping this becomes a regular occurrence. It was a little colder this morning than it has been in a while. The temperature dipped below 60 for the first time in maybe a few months. However it is a comfy 68 by the time I hit the road.
As I approach the Strand, I can see the marine layer out on the distance but it is indeed in the distance which is exactly where I want it. The ocean looks smooth from the parking lot. As I walk down the stairs I hear a surfer describing conditions to someone else nearby and talking about the glassy surface. It does look inviting.
Tide is on the high end and the water hits the concrete ramp and comes all the way to the rocks at the bottom of the bluff. Not a lot of surf. There is one surfer out waiting for what waves there are. There is supposedly a new SSW swell filling in today but it is not expected to be anything big and this high tide isn’t helping. Still, not a bad day to be here enjoying the beach.
The water feels a bit cooler on the feet today. Water temps have been coming down ever so slightly and that is expected to continue this week with a cold trough from British Columbia which perhaps explains the sub 60 degree air temps earlier this morning.
I head into the water and it does indeed feel colder but nothing alarming. It is interesting how come late spring, the low 60’s feel decadent and in early fall mid 60’s feels blustery. I also remember last March where I was looking forward to high 50’s - seriously. Talk all you want about SoCal not having seasons but I am telling you there are about 8 of them here in the water - some years maybe 9.
The water does warm slightly, as usual, past the surfline. I head south and it is super nice out here. The water is very smooth. It looks like I am looking out onto the surface of a calm pool. The bright blue sky reflects off the surface giving the ambiance an airy spaciousness. Of course here in the ocean, spaciousness is its middle name - not many people know that.
I would not say the water looks clear today but it is a vast improvement over recent swims. I actually can see an obscured view of the floor in a couple spots and I see stalks of kelp waving in the current here and there. The hue of the water is a lovely green.
I’m trying to just let myself relax both in mind and body. As I move along the water I can feel stress creep in from memories over the last week or irrational fears that I spy in my future that part of me is trying to convince other parts of me that they are in fact rational. The colder water brings its own sort of stress as well. All of these things I acknowledge and then let them go. I focus on releasing whatever care or attachment I had invested in these thoughts and sensations. I let myself feel the colder water - really feel it - and watch its bite fade.
I can see a bank of clouds developing just above the edge of the bluff that borders the beach. Were these clouds already here when I started? Maybe. After I turn to head north, I watch the clouds resting on the western horizon. They sit out there kind of like they own the place and claim what bit of blue sky they can. I certainly appreciate the texture they give to what looks like the edge of the world.
That lifeguard tower below the Ritz gets closer and closer. It practically glows white and sits like a statue beside the side of the cliff as if it has always been there before the time of life guards and even towers. It slowly grows larger and larger and its details materialize with increasing sharpness the closer I get. I see the ground that it sits on. The rocks that give support to its foundation. Eventually I can see the expanse of the beach at Salt Creek stretching to the Monarch Bay Beach Club.
Well it’s time to head back and I savor every stroke and kick. I head toward shore as I near the ramp that leads toward the parking lot. A small set of waves meet me here and escort me to the sand.
Well that was nice and even now at almost noon, the breeze still has not kicked in and the ocean surface is as smooth as it was when I started. The walk up the stairs provides a nice wind down in the warm sun accompanied by the sound of breaking waves in the background. If you like that kind of thing, it’s a pretty great place to be.
