Every Degree is Sacred

Left the house at 9 this morning. It is crisp and beautiful.

When I get to the parking lot, the ocean surface looks smooth and there is literally not a cloud in the sky.

Its mid to low tide - probably just under 2 feet and a good few hours from what will be a very moderate high tide. There is a lot of rock on this beach. It’s a bit of a trick getting to my launching spot.

I start to head out and as soon as I lower into the initial dip of the sand I am at waist high depth. I feel for the rocks on the floor and move forward just a couple steps until I figure it is going to be easier to do this swimming than walking.

So I start to swim and contend with some very small inside breaks. Before long I feel my hands touching sand. At first I figure I will just keep swimming regardless of the shallow bottom but then it just gets ridiculously shallow and I stand. I wonder when this sand bar will move back to shore. After a few more steps I resume the swim.

It’s cold. Colder than Wednesday. Yesterday’s Santa Ana winds created an offshore flow that was predicted to bring temperatures down. However, as I watched the wind speed yesterday, it did not look too bad and I was hoping it would not have much of an impact on water temperature. It’s probably down just a degree but every degree is sacred.

I head south and I almost immediately see a school of silver fish. One gets close and right below me and my hand brushes against it. That’s a first.

I’m wondering, “ok. When is my body going to start to adjust because it is fricking cold.” It takes a bit longer it seems. Maybe I grew soft in Hawaii. Eventually I do feel warmer.

The current must be flowing south. I feel like I reach the southernmost point pretty quickly. The water is a beautiful green color.

Today my head is filled with acoustic piano music. It’s probably what I was playing last night. I just let this music play out. It seems like it matches the vibe I feel in this swim and helps me to just keep pushing through this cold.

The cold starts to slowly make its way deeper into my body or so it feels. I try to just keep myself curious about the feeling. I note how I feel fine. I feel challenged but not defeated. I watch my fear level. I notice the phantoms of defeat that dance just ahead of me. I breathe in this view and this experience of cold in this moment and I believe I can move on.

I got some new swim goggles a couple weeks ago because my older ones were getting kind of scratched and worn and I wanted them to be as clear as possible so I could enjoy the underwater sights of Hawaii. On the plus side they are clear and they have some sun protection which is nice. On the down side, it feels like my vision is more obscured when I look above the water as I am moving. I think this is mainly because the eyepieces are smaller. At the shop where I bought them I had a choice of two kinds of goggles: Recreational - the kind I had before and Competitive - the kind I bought. C’mon, this is serious stuff here, I’m not going to be messing around with “recreational” goggles. I’m not new here for goodness sake.

I’m tempted to go back and get the recreational goggles.

Well another great swim comes to an end. I towel off on the beach and admire the view. I get my shirt, sweater, and sweatshirt on. I’m still cold, but it’s nothing a hot shower won’t fix.