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… Read More Tangerine Morning (Day 131)
What I wanted for Mother’s Day was to swim with my girls and be provided with breakfast. What I got was swimming with Hazel and making my own breakfast before rushing off to the Bay Area Book Festival. I actually got a lot more than that. First, so many friends made it down to the… Read More Mother’s Day (Day 128)
My friend, Emily, and her kid, Gabi, are staying with us for the weekend as we all attend and volunteer at the Bay Area Book Festival. Emily and I met at Lit Camp several years ago and pre-pandemic we’d often meet up to write together; lovely afternoons where very little writing ever got done. I… Read More Emily At Sea (Day 127)
I’ve spent the day highly distracted by the Supreme Court leak that indicates Roe vs. Wade will be overturned. It’s triggered my rage and sadness, my feelings of helplessness and overwhelm at the state of the world and I’ve spent the whole day writing and thinking about it, leaving me not much left for my… Read More Joyful Lunchtime Swim (Day 123)
This morning I woke up early and went for a gorgeous sunrise swim with Arwen and Sheila (she’s back!) and THEN went to my Lift and Sprint class (finally). I’m in a desperate attempt to reclaim my routines after all of this road trip/COVID/endless recovering nonsense. The class felt good and it was also hard… Read More Doing All The Things (Day 122)
Last night Kevin, Eliza, Hazel, and I drove up to wine country to go camp out at the Six Sigma winery which was hosting the NorCal mountain bike semifinals. It’s an incredibly generous thing this winery does each year: hosting eight hundred scrappy teenagers on bikes (and their families) for a weekend of camping, riding,… Read More Just Making It (Day 121)
Today I finally got to swim with my larger Albany Bulb swimming community and it felt so good. During COVID I purposefully went when no one would be there and since then one thing or another has prevented me from going when most folks are jumping in. Also, since COVID—actually since before that since my… Read More Community (Day 120)
One thing I’ve discovered since becoming a regular open water swimmer is that it’s an excellent forger of friendships. As I’ve said here before, swimming together has deepened my connections with people I already love and has created many, lovely new ones. Today I swam with Gabe, with whom I’ve been crossing paths for nearly… Read More New Friends (Day 119)
This morning was a relaxing, leisurely, chatting swim. I met up with Charlotte for the first time since before my trip and her friend, Magda. Magda had swum with us the very first time Charlotte and I went swimming together but bowed out after that. The warmer water (and possibly some nagging) lured her back… Read More Chatting Swim (Day 117)
Colleen joined me for my early morning sunrise swim today. I was happy to see her and to have company (albeit very far apart) after so many solitary swims. Except for the two of us, the beach was empty when we arrived, the sky just beginning to brighten. The bay, serenely calm, seemed to glow. … Read More Sunrise with Colleen (Day 103)