I left early at 6:30 for the beach. The weather follows the same theme that has been set the last several days: drizzly and grey. The pavement as I walk down the stairs to the beach is wet.

The light still feels dim and looks dark in my memory, but my pictures remind me that it was brighter than I remember. Once I can see the beach, it looks like someone has purposefully roughed up the edge of the sand that lies at the base of the bluff. Why would someone do that? Over the last few years I have come down to the beach on a couple occasions first thing in the morning to view something that looks like someone had worked overnight to construct. The coolest was a design in the sand that looked sort of like a set of crop circles or intricate Zen Garden texturing. Another time there were several stacks of rocks two or three feet high. Not just one or two but about 20. But ruffling up the sand? C’mon can’t we do better than that?

Once I am actually on the beach I realize (once again) my imagination had gotten a bit carried away. Nobody had done anything to the sand. Of course the edge looks roughed up because the inshore sand was smooth from the high tide several hours ago. The outer “roughed up” edge looked roughed up because that is how the sand looks!

I think wave heights have come down another notch since yesterday. However as I walk out into the surf, one of these small waves curls and breaks right at my head like a punch in the face. I’m all wet now. Time to swim.

I start swimming south and pause briefly early on to clear my goggles of water and fog. The water feels just a bit cooler than yesterday but still feels like Summer and for the record it is still Summer.

My mood is kind of dumpy this morning. My mind falls into a trough of general loathing like it has taken the path of least resistance and this is where that path has lead. I have this sense that this is self correctable - like if I apply my attention to a higher level of thinking and work a bit against the resistance I could will myself to a better place. I am not a believer in the positive feeling cult of turn off the bad and force in the good but this is just my thinking right now and it feels good to go with it.

I have turned to head back northward and I repeat to myself that it is all good. I look out toward the early morning horizon and focus on what I believe to overcome what I feel. I believe there is a force inside of me that is connected to a force all around me that has the capacity to propel me forward into goodness. I try to make contact with this identity and I do indeed begin to feel better.

What once looked dark and grim begins to take on a much more pleasant and life giving vibe. I come to the conclusion that it is good to be here. I feel connected with this water and beach and sky. All of these things cast a hopeful glow on this otherwise dreary morning. Every now and then I pause and listen to the surf. It’s like a soothing sound track that plays on repeat even though every chord is distinctly different.

When I get to the northern end of the swim, I see two swimmers making their way south from Salt Creek. I say hello to one and then I turn around and join them on our way to shore. Just before the final swim to the beach, the other swimmer tells me how he likes this weather because it keeps down the crowds. Yep, no crowd here right now that is for sure. We both talk about how amazing it is that more people do not swim here. He says something like, “what are they all thinking?”