Rastafari Buoy

I must say it was a pretty stunning day out on the water today. I left the house at 10:30 with clear skies and the temperature nearing 70 degrees. Sometimes it seems like we have been waiting all Summer for Fall to arrive.

I get to the parking lot and there is not a single cloud in the sky. When I get out of the car, I can feel the sun on my back and it feels good.

As I near the shore, I can see the sand and rocks through the clear blue water in the shallows. Oh man it is such a great scene here.

The water feels just a tad crispier than it did Sunday morning.

I make my way out and dive underneath a small oncoming wave. As I swim north, the water feels mostly warm with intermittent cool patches. I also notice the difference between the water near the surface and the deeper water near my feet as I wade here. It’s definitely warmer at the top.

I swim north and the water is quite clear today. I see beds of sea grass on rocks billowing in the current back and forth as though it is being tossed by some silent wind. There are large rocks that stand like islands on a sea of white sand.

I get to the point with the lifeguard tower. I am swimming closer to shore today and can see a couple packs of surfers hanging out just in front of the break. The water is smooth. That late morning breeze is late in coming today.

I am gazing out to the horizon and releasing my thoughts and trying to let go of any attempt to shape them into some kind of tangible structure. I want to see what shapes they assume on their own. Can I find the face of God staring back at me? Maybe if I can flush away the image that I hold of who God is and who God isn’t - like a false idol - I can connect with the divine in a way beyond my contrived expectations.

I see lots of schools of these small two inch long translucent fish throughout the entire swim. They coalesce together into a single body just beneath the surface of the water.

Venturing further north I reach a maze of lobster trap buoys. They are spread out all over like a mine field. Some are grey, others green, some red and white striped and there are these Rastafari buoys of yellow, green and red.

I see their ropes that lead to the Lobster cages below and I dive down to get a closer look at a couple of them. I can see the cage. Maybe there are Lobster but it is hard to tell and I want to breathe so I return to the surface for air.

I turn around at the little lifeguard stand between the bathrooms and the Monarch Beach Club. It feels like either the water is getting warmer or I have grown accustomed to the cold patches. Either scenario seems just as plausible.

Now I have the beach in front of me for the remainder of the swim. I watch the same sand and brush and cliffs and some houses that I have watched since I was a small child on this beach. I try to listen to how my body responds to these images. Feelings emerge from my mind that are at once familiar and simultaneously mysterious. I can’t seem to pin point their origins but I know this is not the first time I have encountered them.

Just in front of the point, the water is so clear and it looks like I am swimming over these outcroppings of kelp and rock that cover the entire floor. More fish cross in front of me. I look up and plot a coarse directly for the asphalt ramp.

The water is clear and warm and I watch as the rocks and kelp and sand slowly pass beneath me like looking out the window on a pleasant Sunday drive. When I get to my usual finishing spot, I don’t swim directly in but keep swimming for the ramp.

Soon I am just inshore of the rocks and there is just sand for as far as I can see. The floor here looks like the bottom of a concrete pool and I can see the reflecting light from the divets in the surface of the water.

I emerge from the water onto the shore and there is an older man that strikes up a conversation with me. We talk for about 10 minutes - a very nice chat - and a Pelican flies onto the water just in front of us and perches itself on the surface for a good while.

I eventually head up the stairs and it’s pretty darn blissful. Can we just freeze the calendar and make every day like this one? I do like the variety but I’d be game to at least hang out here for a month or two.