It’s another warm and clear sunny morning in Dana Point. Even warmer and clearer than yesterday. It’s supposed to get up to almost 90 here and it is already 76 when I leave at just about 9:30.

Wind is quite lite and as I turn right on to California Ave from Camino El Molino, the American flag at the end house is limp - always a nice predictor for a smooth ocean surface.

I pull into the beach parking lot and I see a lot of the usual vans I see here every day. I’ve always wondered where these vans go at night. I see them both here and at the Doheny State Beach parking lot. I see the same ones in the same spots almost every time. It seems like a potentially great lifestyle. Some of the vans/trailers are quite nice. Others, one wonders if they will make it out of the parking lot. Some have their back doors propped open to a magnificent ocean view. One I see regularly has a kitchen table/desk at the end and always has fresh flowers in a vase. Well last night I was at a weekly meeting and found out one of the attendee’s has a son who owns one of these trailers. I guess one popular night parking space is the freeway rest area near San Onofre.

The free beach shuttle sign is still up even though the sign near the funicular says that service ends on Labor Day. I don’t see the actual shuttle and wonder if service is extended or someone just didn’t put the sign into storage for next year.

I walk down the stairs and the sun gets warmer and warmer the longer I’m out here. I’m in a near comatose state by the time I get to the beach. If I don’t get into the water soon, I may never manage to pull myself away from the warm sun and sand. The water does feel colder on my feet today. Surfline has downgraded the water temperature from 72 to 69. I’m sure yesterday’s stronger onshore winds are the main contributor. Today’s winds are not supposed to be as strong or as prolonged.

The ocean looks very inviting. The surface is smooth and the coolness is not bad in the slightest. As I swim, I can feel when I turn my head for air how the top one inch of water is warmer from the sun’s heat than the water below.

I’m swimming north today. It is just such a delightful morning here. Everything seems perfect. I am surrounded by blue air and water ad endless coastal landscape. I watch the subtle ripples spread out gently on the surface of the water, the swell raises the entire world, or so it seems, in a cadence mimicking a live breathing body. Perhaps there is no mimicking here. To the far north, Monarch point sits between Salt Creek beach and Three Arch bay. It looks very small from here and goes in and out of existence with every breath of the ocean.

The water is on the cloudy side but everything above the water looks hyper clear. It’s as if the ocean possesses some kind of drug that makes it’s way through my skin and heightens my vision. I might add, however, that my goggles are not helping.

For some reason, north of the Salt Creek/Strands border, the water always seems more shallow in the region past the surf where I swim. I can see the bottom - not clearly - but I easily make out sand from kelp and rock. There is nothing ever really terribly exciting on the Salt Creek side in regards to rocks and vegetation until you get close the the northern end of the bay. That doesn’t mean it’s not super nice. It’s boring but benign. It feels like a safe and welcoming environment. I’m sure if I am ever attacked by a shark here, that perception may change.

I keep thinking back on this swim and I don’t know how well I can trust my memory. Was it really that good? Was it really so pure and blue and untarnished? Did the water really remind me of air and did the air seem as if submerged in water? Was everything really so shiny and bright? If memory does not agree with the experience, which do I choose? I’ll just stick with the memory.

I keep swimming to what has become my usual north route turnaround point: the spot right in between the beach club and the bathrooms where the “creek” comes out from the golf course and towards the ocean. I have to wonder just how pure that part is. Maybe I won’t think about it. Things look clean right here where I am.

Time to turn around and head back. I stare back at the beach the entire way. It’s just as delightful as the swim out here. Maybe more so. There are several boats zooming up and down the beach. One of the drivers waves and I wave back. I come in close to the lifeguard tower at the point. The water does seem kind of clear here. There are lots of small Corbina here and all over.

The ocean surface is still smooth as I swim the last few hundred feet. It’s like a mirror reflecting the goodness of the sun and sky and the cliffs that bookend this water.

I reach the final exiting point and I feel totally refreshed and nourished by the swim I just took. I head up the stairs and it’s even warmer now than when I came down. The shower up top is genuinely warm. Can I just throw a table in the back of my truck, put some flowers in a vase on top and then work from here?