Dead End

Another beautiful beautiful and fairly warm day here in Dana Point. Not a cloud in the sky as I head down Selva to the strand parking lot. I get to the top of the stairs and notice a sign that says “Dead End Ahead.” Oh come on now. That can’t be true. I see plenty of people on the stairs. I do remember some construction yesterday on the fence running along the asphalt road just above the beach. I go ahead and proceed down the stairs figuring there must be some way around this.

About a third of the way down, a couple coming up tells me that the beach access is completely blocked off. I thank them and turn around. It looks like I’ll be taking an alternate route to the beach today. That’s ok. It’s not far. I take note of the dates of the closure when I get back up top - just today and tomorrow. I wonder if they will repave that road while they are at it. It sure could use it.

I head down the stairs that lead into the community of 8 figure estates just above the shore, cross the main walk way that runs parallel to the beach and then down the final steps to the sand. It’s beautiful here and the waves are up another notch or two.

This is where I used to enter the water when I first started doing this. It’s where we always hung out on the beach when I was a kid. So I am very familiar with this spot and know it’s mostly sandy bottom here in front of the steps. There could be a few small protruding rocks here and there so I move with some caution into the water. Soon I’m off and horizontal over the water heading south. From this starting point, I don’t have far to go until I reach the end of the beach.

I get to my usual turning point at the big rock here and then take in the view from all directions before taking off north for the Ritz. It’s such a nice swim. The water temperature is just at the border of cold and pretty comfortable. I try to keep my body relaxed and receptive to the cold. I can feel invisible waves of warmer water move across the space I inhabit. They often coincide with the more visible waves that cross here well before breaking.

I have this music playing in my head over the entire swim. It’s basically the piano I was playing last night. This music puts me in this content, peaceful and happy space. I allow stories and dreams to roam freely in my mind. They are good stories and good dreams. The blue of the water and the luminescence on the horizon serves as a homing beacon that draws these dreams from the vortex of empty space into my streams of thought.

It feels like a long swim to the other end but long in a good way. Could I swim forever? Probably not. I am intercepted by a patch of kelp and I choose to swim underneath it to open, unobstructed water. I reach my northernmost destination and I’m used to being almost done at this point but because of the dead end, I have a little further to go today. That’s quite alright - there is plenty in the tank.

I finish up the swim and enjoy swimming close to the edge of the breaking waves and feeling them roll over me and watching the clouds of sand billow like an epic dust storm beneath me. I finally swim back to shore right in front of the stairs I descended earlier. The shallow water is particularly sandy here. I stand myself up just as a wave moves over me and immediately I am vertical. I walk through the humble community of beach front homes here in the blissful sun up the stairs and back to the car.