It’s a lovely Autumn day here. The sun is shining and the temperature is in the mid 60’s. I get to the parking lot at a quarter to 11:00 and I can see lines of swell rolling eastward one after another over a lightly textured ocean surface. Walking down the stairs, I watch the light shimmer on the water. It feels a little coolish but mostly comfortable.

The tide is pretty low - just a bit under 2 feet which isn’t crazy low but so many of my recent swims have been during high tide that this feels almost novel. The waves are actually breaking further out in the water and not right on to the shore like they have been during the high tide peak the last couple weeks.

There are Curlews and Sand Pipers running toward and away from the surf. It feels like November.

Surf is up a bit today. I’ve been watching the webcams all morning and there are lots of head high plus waves out but from what I am seeing in front of me right now, we must be in a lull. I head out into the water and start swimming west. Well the stunning clear water from last week is gone now. I don’t see any ocean floor the entire swim. The swells have stirred up the sand.

There is music playing in my head as I head south. I can’t even place the genre and it’s not necessarily something I would choose to tune into but what can I do? It’s what’s playing now and I don’t like to mess with the dial.

I can really feel the activity in the water today. There are a combination of swells here and at times I feel like I am flowing with and at others flowing against the stream.

As I near the south end of the beach, I’m uncertain how much closer I want to get to the cliffs. I can see the waves breaking onto the shallow rocks which are shallower now due to the low tide. I get close enough to my usual turn around spot and take in the scenery around me before making my way back north.

I’m gazing west into the uneven horizon that bends in all sorts of different and opposing angles. I watch the waves approach my face. Sometimes from a distance they look steep but as they draw close they turn into nothing - just a bump pushing under my head.

The water temperature feels about the same as it has for the past several swims - mid 60’s. Sometimes it feels colder and sometimes warmer. Just how much longer do we have I wonder? According to Monday night’s forecast, the temps are due to hold this week. This time of year it can all end any week. I have this dream that maybe this year will be different. Maybe the ocean will decide it can go a year without needing to dip into the 50’s. It’s like some sort of year of jubilee in the Jewish seven year cycle where all debts are forgiven and the land is allowed to go fallow. I’m guessing the ocean probably does not honor this seven year cycle but I’m thinking of maybe petitioning my local congressman or whatever it is I have to do to move things in that direction.

I’m getting close to Salt Creek now. I’m moving parallel to the lobster trap buoys and it seems like I spot another one every few strokes. I can hear the surfers hooting and hollering. Based on the south county beach reports, Strands and Salt Creek have the largest surf today of the area - bigger than Trestles and the Wedge. I can see the waves breaking as I stare to the North at the main Salt Creek break. I swim just far enough past the northern bathrooms to make up for any distance I might have come short on the south end of the swim. I’ve managed to drift a ways offshore so I aim diagonally for the asphalt road about a quarter mile south of me.

Eventually I sense I am nearing the surf zone and I even out my trajectory just a bit. Then it is time to head to shore. I can see the approaching waves in my periphery. It feels like I am still a ways from the sand but the water is pretty shallow right here and only about chest high. I swim just a little more and then walk the last forty feet or so to dry sand.

I’m greeted by another Curlew running in random directions at the edge of the water. I reach the asphalt road and a passerby encourages me to walk in the gutter. One might think to take offense to such a suggestion but if you saw the condition of this asphalt, you would see the well meaning intentions.