Uneventful

I wasn’t planning to swim today. I thought I’d have a nice early bike ride and then be off to do a chore that was likely to take several hours. However the chore was canceled. Now if I still lived in my former apartment just two miles from the beach and saw the numbers posted on surfline of 4 to 6 feet surf, I might have stuck with the bike ride. But now that I live AT the beach and can walk my dog and get an actual view of the actual surf, it does not look at all formidable. Besides, it is a super pleasant day out and I know that water will be warm. I know that if I take that bike ride, I will enjoy it and I won’t feel committed to be writing and editing pictures. However, I just can’t resist the pull of the ocean.

So I go home after the dog walk and get my swim stuff (which is very little stuff) and go. I visit with the Sunday morning swimmers (all two of them) for a couple minutes in the parking lot. We talk about the water visibility which has been dismal lately. But the water! The water is utterly delightful. They do mention the larger surf, but I figure what bad thing could possibly happen in 70+ degree water.

I get to the beach and it is beautiful. There is surf but nothing scary at all. There is notably less sand than there was on Friday. The concrete ramp to the sand has about an 18 inch drop off to the shore. Once I walk just a couple steps out into the water, the ground changes from sand to cobble. The waves are breaking close to shore here and the water gets deeper fast and I realize it’s just going to be easier to swim than try to walk past the surf. So in I go and it feels great.

The swim out past the surf is completely uneventful and I am thinking how glad I am that I came here and what a shame it would have been to let the surf forecast deter me. This is all just more proof that it’s better to pay attention on what is actually happening around us instead of getting caught up in the stories we tell ourselves and the negative commentaries.

I swim north and it looks like the surf is pumping up in front of the Ritz. There is a sizable pack of surfers pretty far out. When I reach them, I am nearly parallel to them and figure I might want to swim a little further out. There is a stand up paddle boarder here who I recognize. The type of SUPer who is here for the waves and not for the distance.

I keep swimming north all the way to the Monarch Bay Beach Club. It is so beautiful and pleasant out here. I’m trying to let my thoughts and interpretations fall away as I make my way through the water. I don’t want to push my thoughts away. I just want to let them be and watch them. I’m trying not to reach for anything. I wonder what I might experience if I give up the need to add anything extra - perhaps something completely unexpected.

The way back to where I started is just as nice as the trip out. Every now and then I pause and I think I hear something breathing and I look around me and realize it id just the sound of the wind and the swell. It is definitely a breath of sorts. It is the best kind of breath. The breath of the ocean. I look south towards the lifeguard tower and I can see that SUPer in the distance catching a wave. It’s super cool to watch and I wonder how that feels. Soon I look up and there is a surfer RIGHT in front of me. Then I notice that the pack of surfers extends well past where I am and I have to chuckle. I turn 90 degrees to head due west and swim around the surfers. The final swim to shore is very much like the initial swim past the surf - uneventful. I think that is exactly how I like it - uneventful.