Swaddled

If you thought yesterday was dreary, it seems more like a summer time fantasy compared to today. When I leave to take my dog to Pines Park, the ground is wet and it is quite drizzly. When we get to the bluff, the visibility is very poor. There isn’t any fog per se but the horizon is not far and it’s not a sharp line by any means. Still, it’s 60 degrees and it is all very lovely in its own way. I feel very fortunate to be here.

I leave for the beach a little before 10:00. It is drizzly enough that I need to use my windshield wipers. I get to the parking lot and I have no trouble finding a spot, but it is by no means empty. Today I go ahead and leave my pack in the car. Based on yesterday’s water temperature, I have no fear of hypothermia and my pack would only get wet in the drizzle so no sense in bringing it.

I walk down the stairs and everything is wet. However, I’m only wearing trunks and I feel pretty comfortable. It’s wet but it’s not cold. I wouldn’t say it’s warm either. As I descend the asphalt just before the shore, there is a pod of dolphins just past the surf making their way north. They don’t come up for air often and are easy to miss.

There are more walkers than one might expect to see on a day like today. However it is Saturday. They all look a little overdressed. With just trunks, camera and goggles, I feel like I have exactly enough. I feel a sense of freedom and agility.

I head out into the water and it might feel warmer than yesterday. Cold is not an issue today. There is some texture on the water but it is not particularly rough at all. There is some surf in the water but nothing too big. It is supposed to build through the weekend and potentially get pretty large tomorrow. A larger set of waves approach just as I reach the edge of the surf and I ready my camera to take a shot but only capture an underwater shot as the wave passes over me. I think I’ll keep it.

I swim north today since it has been a few swims since heading that direction. As I head for Monarch, all I see as I breath is a fuzzy mass of grey. Then my face looks into the deep blue water and there are just shadows of varying shades of blue and black. It’s all very peaceful. I try to slip in and make my home in these shades of color and shadows. Perhaps I can find something here or perhaps I can forget something here or perhaps I can forget a lot of things here. In these shades and shadows there are no words or ideas. There is only raw feeling and sensations. There is a nakedness that I suddenly remember longing for. It’s like leaving something you forgot about and returning to find it with unexpected delight.

The water feels so much warmer than it looks. I love watching these fuzzy points, Dana to the south and Monarch to the north. They are covered in light mist. You’d think that one would just want to snuggle near a fire today but I feel swaddled in the water and it somehow gives me comfort knowing that somewhere someone is sitting near a fire. I feel oddly bound to them. Maybe they are just on the shore in the Ritz enjoying coffee or coco. Oh coffee, now that is something I look forward to.