Swimming from San Clemente today. It’s Veterans day and I have the day off; so I am spending it with my super scrumptious girl friend Tracey. I leave my home at a little before 9:00 and instead of parking near Tracey’s Condo, I park in the North Beach parking lot. This is very strategic. With the crazy high tides, getting in the water below Tracey’s can be rather treacherous, but North Beach always has a nice sandy beach these days. This has not always been the case before the sand replenishment project.
I pay the $2.50 parking fee, gather my stuff and head toward the shore. The railroad crossing arms come down just before I can cross; so I wait for the train to pass - ah the charm of San Clemente beaches. It’s a beautiful day and the water looks so inviting. In two minutes my feet are wet and I pass the threshold of pebble flooring right where the water intersects with the shore. There is a step just past this and I go from ankle deep water to shoulder deep water in what seems like just a couple steps. The water feels as good as it looks.
There are a few small waves that I swim through. They look small and smooth and perfectly shaped. The surface of the water is calm and I can see the sun high in the air just over my shoulder. There is not a cloud in the sky. The air and water are both warm. It’s almost half way through November. This is not normal. It’s probably some terrible environmental omen, but it feels so good and I let myself enjoy it.
I swim north towards and alongside the houses that sit above the rocks between North Beach and Poche Beach. I swim past the last house until I am almost parallel to the mobile home park that sits across Coast Highway near the San Clemente DMV (where I got my license on my 16th birthday 42 years ago). I stare at the horizon as I swim this entire expanse. I try to empty my mind and not to focus on getting to my destination but rather just let myself enjoy the journey. There is much to enjoy.
The water is smooth but also kind of bouncy. I enjoy the bounce. The small waves pass me and break right on the rocks below that row of houses and then the water is pushed back westward and forms an opposing wave that reaches me for a second visit. I am not far from where the larger sets are breaking. I enjoy watching the explosion of white water and also veer slightly seaward so that I do not get any closer.
After turning around I enjoy watching the houses and the hillside just behind them. The slope is filled with browns and greens. It’s treeless and almost looks dessert-like. I have run on that ridge many many times. I remember walking on it with Tracey on our first date after our first kiss two days before and I was trying to figure out how to behave around this woman. I had forgotten what it was like to feel such an attraction for another person and I was, and still very much am, very much enjoying those feelings. They felt oddly foreign but very much welcome. I knew I would eventually find my way and I have.
What a journey this relationship has been - a wonderful journey. It started with a lot of emotional effort and some angst and eventually I learned to relax and let go and now it all feels so much more natural and very nice and just very right. I feel like I am just where I should be and like I don’t really need to worry so much about exactly where I am headed but instead I should just head where I am headed because I am headed towards where I feel the light hit my heart and I think that is the place I want to be.
Swimming in this water it is not so different. I just point myself in the direction of North Beach and let my eyes rest on that hillside and let the light reflect off the brown soil of the cliff face and onto my heart and try to notice exactly how it feels in my heart. I need to notice so that I can remember, because this is the feeling that guides me. Right now it is guiding me back to Tracey’s condo which is where I will soon be after reaching the shore.
