My diligence in keeping up with this blog is seriously lacking. I can’t believe it’s been three months since I last posted. I think about it a lot for whatever that’s worth. And I miss it. I miss the way that knowing I was going to write a blog post made me experience my daily swim in a particular way. The way it made me pay attention. I miss the little spark of meaning it gave me to shoot a post into the inter webs and imagine someone reading it. Now, I’m about to head off for a summer of adventures that I hope will include lots of swimming and before I go, I thought I’d recap the last few months.

March started off with a visit from my dear friend Isabelle and her family. The weather was cold and rainy, which I felt badly about because they were coming from Montreal and I was hoping they’d get some California sun. But a few warm rays snuck in between storms and we had a lovely visit in all permutations of weather.

Including some swimming! Isabelle and Cam swam with me on the first day. The water was cold–47°–and the sky was gray and blustery, but they surprised me by staying in for quite a while! Then Isa came back a couple more mornings.

I got the distinct impression that if she weren’t living in a place where the water is frozen over all winter, she’d be a winter wild swimming regular. 

The cold water persisted through early April, but started to warm up mid-month, which meant I could go for longer swims. I reunited with the big tree and the point.

For most of the month the water temperature was in that sweet mid-50s spot where it’s still cold enough that I reap all of those beautiful cold water benefits, but warm enough to do so without a hefty after-drop.

May was full of big life stuff for my family and swimming took a back seat. Hazel was catapulting through the end of her senior year and I was tearily soaking up every one of the lasts that were piling up. Eliza came home mid-month for a couple of weeks before heading off to Washington to work as a firefighter for the summer and each day seemed full. Including a celebration of Hazel’s 18th birthday at Stinson Beach where we had a couple of lovely swims.

As I was savoring my time with my girls, the bulb turned gray and windy and it was easy to give it a miss many mornings.

But whenever I’d get myself there, despite how unappealing it was to get in, I was always glad I did. The water climbed up to the low 60s and the pelicans returned!

It seemed harder and harder to swim with the salties, but we did manage it a few times.

Now it’s time for summer swimming adventures!