When I woke up to frost on all the windows, I did not want to swim. I made my tea and wrote in my journal and thought, “I won’t go unless someone else instigates it.” Five minutes later, my phone buzzed and a text from Angie said she’d pick me up in fifteen minutes. By… Read More A Very Cold Morning
Sunday was another lovely sunny day with a big crowd at the Bulb, which still felt like a welcome sight after all of the rain. Brown, murky water greeted us again, but I tried to pretend not to notice. The temperature was 51, the air slightly warmer than it had been the day before, but… Read More Sickness and Health (Week 4 in Swimming)
Week three began in Pt. Reyes at my gorgeous writing retreat. It rained and rained and I cozied up in my little writing hut and luxuriated in time and creativity. When we lost power, I snuggled by the fire with books and my journal and I slept more than I have for years. I felt… Read More (Im)Patience (Week 3 in Swimming)
January 8 (Sun)—It was a small crowd for a Sunday; just a few of us stealing in a swim between storms. It raged last night and is set to do so again tonight, so this morning we plunged in. The water was murky below and probably pretty polluted, but it looked beautiful! Calm, with ribbons… Read More Storms (Week 2 in Swimming)
The weirdest thing about January 1st was not coming back from my swim and thinking about my blog. At first, it was freeing: I don’t have to write about it! I don’t have to take pictures! But then it became disconcerting. Chronically my daily swimming has come to feel like my job; not doing it… Read More Adjusting (Week 1)
Today, my swim friends threw me a party in celebration of my year of swimming and it was a joyful, soul-nourishing experience. Swimming every day in 2022 brought me so many gifts, but if this day had been the only one, it would have been worth it. How rare it is to be so fully… Read More Celebrating
Bleary-eyed with jet lag and the particular bodily displacement that comes from traveling such a long distance in such a short time, I arrived back in the stormy Bay Area ready to take my last plunge of my year of swimming in my favorite place: the Albany Bulb. It was pouring with rain as our… Read More 365 Days of Swimming
A couple of days ago, Kevin and I decided to cut our trip short and head back to California for New Years. Kevin’s been away for over a month and is missing home and I love the idea of doing my last swim of the year in my home waters of the Albany Bulb. So,… Read More Lost in Hampstead Heath (Day 364)
Today we left Essex to go back to London and start our journey home. It’s been a lovely week with Kevin’s sister and family and I’m not sure how I will cope without a daily hot breakfast cooked by my brother-in-law Phil, bottomless cups of tea provided by my sister-in-law Sandra, and endless adorable shenanigans… Read More Goodbye Essex (Day 363)
It was a blustery, rainy English day today. Not a day that screams at you to get in for a swim, but of course I had to do it and, of course, it was lovely. After a lazy, lounging morning and a rainy, brisk walk, we went back to Manningtree where I jumped into the… Read More Last Rainy Swim in Manningtree (Day 362)
Jenny Swimming 