At Play in the Fields of the Lord

If not swimming for 12 days means 3 days like these last three swims, maybe I should take more breaks from getting in the water. Another epic day today for sure. It’s the day after Thanksgiving and although I have to work, most others took the day off which just means things feel a bit more relaxed than usual today without unexpected interruptions.

Yesterday I made some Thanksgiving dishes that I have never made before. Usually I would just take instructions from my ex-wife on various food prep tasks, but yesterday I had to find the recipes and do everything. I’m no foreigner to cooking and in fact I cook all of my meals and don’t eat out all that often but these dishes are pretty different from what I usually cook. Lots of creme and butter and some salt (ingredients I usually do not stock). I must say the dishes came out quite successfully. The string bean casserole I made was from a recipe that claimed to be the “best in the world.” I consider myself incredibly lucky to have found that one. I mean what are the odds?

So it’s a little cooler today and its about 63 out when I leave for the beach a little before 10:00. Skies are completely clear. Just before leaving I thought I saw what might look like a fog bank far offshore but as I approached the water from Selva, I had to laugh at myself because that hazy horizon looked nothing like fog.

I’m walking down the stairs and having the same conversation with myself that I have had a billion times over. I was going to say a million but I’m sure it has been way more than that. I’m ruminating over the water temperature. I’m even thinking back to my last conversation on this topic which would have been yesterday in this exact same place. I remember trying to convince myself that this would certainly be too cold to bear and I respond stating that it never is and then I just can’t seem to fully process this response but after getting in and swimming a short while, all is well - more than well. So today I am convinced things will be different. This will be the day that I cannot bear the cold (which isn’t even cold being in the low 60’s). Yesterday’s experience simply does not apply here on this beautiful sunny day. Certainly there is suffering in my near future.

I get to the beach and the water feels the same as it has the last couple days. It’s beautiful here. There are lots of birds flying practically right in front of me. I see the usual pelicans and gulls and even see some curlews and sand pipers which are not rare but a little extra special. There is a lot of loose seaweed drifting on the bottom in the shallows. The surf is super small and I walk out past the small breakers. I’m taking pictures of the birds which is like capturing a speck of dust on a large canvas and I think I’m past the surf. Then a wave appears out of nowhere which is still small but larger than the others and it’s going to break right in front of me and I decide to dive under it before I can even think about the cold.

Well the cold is a trivial cold and I am just relieved to get this brief moment over with. I swim out a little further and the water noticably warms and now all is good. In fact it is more than good. The water clarity is extremely good. Every day has been getting clearer this week but today is one of the clearer days we have had this year. It’s very cool.

I am swimming south and I cross paths with a single swimmer who, like me, has no wetsuit which is very rare here but good to see. I wonder if this is the same guy I saw a few weeks ago who had no wetsuit. He is oblivious to me and I try not to bother him.

As I continue, an idea begins to emerge. Today might be a great day to venture to the end of the point. The water isn’t too cool, surf is down and the water is super clear. It’s optimal conditions for such an excursion. I don’t have time or ambition to go far but even if I can swim to the edge of the point, that is a super fun adventure.

Once I get to the end of the beach and I’m at the base of the headlands, it feels like the water clarity only gets better. There are lots of rocks submerged here with starfish and kelp and other fish swimming all about and it’s just beautiful. I start to head west and this whole little side trip is just spectacular. Eventually I make it to where I can see just around the point and all the caves at the base of the cliff that are located at the northwest corner of the point (Dana Point). Even when my head is above the water, I can see much of what is happening below because it is just so very clear here.

The tide isn’t that low but it is low enough that waves are breaking onto the rocks just south of where I am so I decide that this is far enough. I wade here for a little while and savor every minute. I’m noticing some fog developing inside of my camera housing (super annoying) and I take out my camera to take some pics being VERY careful not to drop it. I just don’t want to miss what I am seeing here.

I soon start to swim back east to my big turnaround rock and then veer northward to continue the swim. The whole journey to the north is so great. It feels like I am moving extra fast but I think that’s just because I can see every single leaf of kelp pass beneath me. It feels like surely someone has planted some extra kelp in the last week. Could there really be this much? I love this.

By the time I am near my northern turnaround point, it feels like I have been out here for hours though I am sure that is not true. My little detour earlier certainly added some time but not that much. Still this autumn light gives this beach an afternoon sort of appearance.

Today is one of the rare days where it seems like I am taking more underwater pics that pics of the cliffs and birds. There is just so much to see and the way the sun hits the kelp is so magical. It’s like a big huge playground out here and I am practically all by myself.

Here I am - at play in the fields of the Lord.