Likable Long Billed Curlews
Left the house a little after 10 this morning. The sun felt warm with mostly clear skies other than some wispy clouds on the horizon.
As I pass Doheny, the ocean looks like shimmering silver with the sun shining through those thin clouds. The water looks to have a fair amount of texture on it.
See Catalina out there?
When I get to the parking lot, conditions look the same here. The air is so clear and you can see Catalina nice and sharp.
As I walk down the stairs, there is an onshore breeze beginning to pick up.
I get to the beach, set down my backpack and head out into the ocean.
The surf is down from yesterday and the water is much more clear.
As I begin to swim, the water temperature feels about the same as yesterday but after a while it does feel just a bit cooler than yesterday. Like it has for the last week, it’s cold but not terrible. One way I know for sure it’s not super cold is that when the swim ends, I have full range of motion of all my fingers. When it gets colder, it becomes difficult to control my fourth and fifth digits through about the last third of the swim.
It’s a different day from yesterday for sure. Yesterday was idyllic bright sun and glassy ocean surface. Today has a sort of waxing and waning silver-grey hue and bumpy current. Still, it’s all good. I’m glad to be here and the clear water is nice. I see a few schools of fish on the swim.
I’m focusing on feeling the cold in various parts of my body and not judging it. Cold is cold. It definitely provides a pick me up. Sometimes a swim feels like such a commotion. There are small wakes rolling over me or against me, my breath and strokes makes sounds that seem so loud and raucous. It’s odd how on one hand, these swims are incredibly meditative and calming while it can sometimes feel like I am in the epicenter of a tumultuous, splashing, bubbling fury. Then if I take a moment to stop and take in the scenery, the storm instantly settles and it is quiet, and still and alone.
In the final 15 minutes of the swim, this late Fall light makes the day feel so late. It’s not even noon but I feel like its getting to be evening. Do I really have to go back to work?
When I get to shore today, unlike yesterday, I do towel off and don a shirt and sweatshirt. Why not treat myself to some luxury?
As I walk along the sand toward the ramp leading to the stairs that lead to the parking lot, this landscape looks magical. The sun shines on the textured water making it look electric. An effect likely enhanced due to the fact that I am not wearing my glasses.
There are a couple Long Billed Curlews running about at the water’s edge. There is something so likeable about those birds and their long curving beaks.
