Summer
Today is the first swim I have had this year that truly felt like summer. And wouldn’t you know it? It IS the first day of summer!
Such a beautiful day on this Summer solstice. I wasn’t planning to swim until Friday but yesterday was so amazing that I told myself I’d swim if today shaped up with the same conditions. You just never know when the gloom will return. These sunny days seem to be few and far between lately so I wanted to get it while the getting is good. And it was good.
When I woke up at 4:30 and looked at my phone’s weather app, it said skies were “clear.” A good omen indeed. Except for some marine layer at the end of the horizon, it was blue skies all around once it was light out.
I left a little before 9. When I get to the parking lot, there is a cool breeze blowing lightly and the ground is warm beneath my feet.
I just missed the jr. lifeguard rush. I can see some waves rolling along the surface as I walk down the stairs. They look like they could be some good sized breaks but they don’t really look like much once I get to shore.
The water feels a bit warmer on my feet today. Yesterday Surfline bumped the water temperature reading from 62 to 64. A couple of the buoys in north Camp Pendleton had a couple 67 degree readings yesterday afternoon. So dreamy.
Once I get past the surf the water is indeed warmer today. It’s not tropical but except for some intermittent cold spots (that were not all that cold) I don’t feel even the slightest bit of unpleasant coolness.
In this warmer water my mind can just relax, settle in on the shore or the horizon depending on my direction, and just breathe in this summertime gladness.
There is nowhere else to be and no time in the future I want to race towards. I don’t really want this swim to end.
It’s low tide and the rocks at the south end of the swim are very exposed. When I head back up north, I feel those rolling waves pushing me forward. It seems like I am back up towards Salt Creek sooner than later.
I see a couple boats pretty close to where I am and a Jet Ski too. When I am almost to the northern end, there is a hoard of jr. guards paddling surfboards just beside me and heading in the opposite direction. One of them, who looked like he was in charge, says “hi.”
I’m straining to find the Green Monster and heading in what I am sure is its direction. Eventually I see it about 50 feet off shore from me. I swim up to it and take a few pictures and then start to head south again. I soon realize that I never actually circled the buoy. Well, I just have to go back. I mean you cannot NOT swim around the buoy. There must be some governing body with rules to that effect.
I make my obligatory orbit and head back wishing I could just keep swimming or at least just stay here at the beach. Can’t they find some AI to do my job? Oh wait…
I finish up, grab my pack (I really don’t even know why I brought that) and head to the stairs. The lifeguard hut at the bottom of the ramp says the water is 61-63. Nah! It’s warmer than that.
The walk up the stairs is so good, Nothing like warm sun on skin.
