Yesterday’s swim was summer and this morning was winter. It was all whipping wind, fog, and clouds at the Albany Bulb this morning. This was the big tree yesterday and today:

While the bay looked wild in its dark greens and grays, it felt amazing. Perhaps because the air was so much colder than the water; or maybe because the water had trapped all the heat from yesterday, but it felt nearly tropical gliding in this morning.

Again there were gaggles of us swimmers out this morning; plunging in in small groups and pairs. I got in with Angie, Sheila, Kim, and Colleen (though Colleen soon zipped off and disappeared into the distance). The delicious feeling of warm water in the cold, gray morning isn’t easy to describe. It’s the joyful surprise of embodied pleasure when you expected discomfort; the contradiction of the external scene and the internal sensations. 

It was also wild and fun with chaotic waves that didn’t seem to follow any kind of pattern. As I swam along my body was pulled this way and that, lifted and lowered, jostled and slapped. I’m still feeling the motion while sitting in my chair to write this.