I swam early today with Angie, Arwen, and Sheila, my original wild swimming salty sea sisters. It’s unusual for us to all manage an early morning on the same day and it felt like a celebration. Not the least because the bay was in full splendor when we arrived.

Tangerine and pink skies, layers of colors that repeated in the calm water. Full of light, it’s as if the bay is brimming with the promise of the new day. I snapped pictures like a fool before ever unlayering and getting into the water.

Finally, we jumped in; the glassy water cold and refreshing. It took a little while, but I soon felt vibrant and alive. There is no better way to wake up in the morning.

We hadn’t been in long when the sun emerged from the hills, warm and luxurious. We closed our eyes and felt the day seep into our skin. In the quiet morning, we floated and bobbed, each cocooned in our own meditation.

Eventually, we extracted ourselves from all that relaxation and started to swim. By now the pinks and oranges had morphed into blues and yellows. We swam out to the big tree (or not—nothing is so controversial amongst us as the moment of arrival at the big tree) and were pretty cold by then, so did a quick turnaround and swam back.

Returning to shore, the sun was in our face, lighting the way, warming and beckoning. The pelicans came for some quick snacks in the water around us— It always makes me curious: what kinds of fish are swimming at our feet?