No Extra Thoughts

Another cloudy day here. We saw some sun mid afternoon but it was full cloud coverage all morning. I left at about 9:30 for the beach.

There is supposedly a SSW swell peaking today but I’m not seeing much of anything as I pass Doheny and there is not much of note at the strand either. It is approaching a 6 foot high tide so that could be contributing to the sluggishness.

The water looks super smooth when I get to the parking lot. There is a good sized RV parked here with a for sale sign of about 27K. It looks good from the outside.

I’m heading down the stairs and there is a slight chill in the air. I think I’m growing weak. It’s probably north of 66 degrees. Again I have visions in my head of the cold water and am already bracing myself.

Due to the high tide, as soon as I reach the sand I can feel the water and immediately my concerns are abated. It feels pretty darn pleasant. The last couple of water temperature forecasts talk about the holding warm water but warn that it could drop off any time now. This will be my third cold water season. The first started just after the first weekend in November when it plummeted from 64 to 55. It bounced back to about 58 but never saw 60 until late March. Last year we has a week or two of sub 60 degree water in October but November and even the first week of December were not bad - maybe 62-64. Then it was sub 60 until late March again. So who knows what this year holds.

I get in the water. I take just a few steps and then drop from thigh level water to shoulder level almost instantly. Well that’s fine. The water feels good. I’d say it is a bit warmer today than it was on Sunday. I am in the water a little later in the day but not by much at all.

I start my swim and the water is a dark dark blue. It’s super smooth the entire swim. I focus on my breath and the pure experience of swimming here. There is a music soundtrack playing in the background of my head. Nothing I recognize but I just let it play. I think don’t want to add anything extra to these thoughts. I gaze into the grey forever on the horizon and let my thoughts rest on that.

I find plenty of lobster traps on the swim today. On the final push back to my finish, I pass another swimmer. I’m just swimming and see a head where I don’t usually see one. We chat for a couple of sentences and comment on how nice the water is.

I get to where it looks like I can practically touch the shore (maybe this is a small exaggeration) and I can barely feel the ocean floor as I try to stand. Just a couple strokes further and I am waist deep and then a couple steps and I’m on (not dry) land. It’s almost exactly high tide right now and the water is reaching the rocks at the end of the beach. Walkers are blazing a trail above the rocks. I don’t care myself because it’s not like I’m concerned about getting my feet wet.