Today Eliza left on her road trip back up to Victoria for another year of University. I sat on the stoop and watched her drive away, my heart full of the complicated mixture of pride and sadness that is becoming a familiar part of parenting a young adult. I wanted to go inside and sob… Read More Crying into my Goggles (Day 241)
Eliza arrived at the lake today! She’s been home in Berkeley working all summer and the world feels like a better place now that all four of us are back together under one roof, at least for a little while. Eliza joined me for the first part of my swim and I got to vicariously… Read More Eliza Reunion! (Day 207)
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)
I was excited to get back to the bulb with my crew this morning. My adventures this weekend were fantastic, but at my core, I am a creature of habit, and the bulb with its familiar faces, landmarks, and routines, was calling to me. It was a little bit warmer today (a lot warmer than… Read More Appearances and Realities (Day 60)
Today began in the pre-dawn hours with Hazel and I waking up in a hotel room in Modesto where we’d spent the night before in order to make it to her mountain bike race by 6:30 am. The pain of the early hour was tempered by how incredibly beautiful the awakening day was. Mountain bike… Read More Turlock Lake (Day 57)
The first time I saw the swimmers at Aquatic Park, I was chaperoning a 5th grade overnight field trip to a 300 ft, square-rigged tall ship called the Balclutha. Built in 1886 for the grain trade, the Balclutha is now a national historic landmark vessel. When those 30 fifth graders from Cragmont Elementary School stepped… Read More Aquatic Park (Day 56)
When we first moved back to California from Montreal Eliza and Hazel were six and three. It was a hopeful, happy time: Obama was poised to become president, Kevin was starting a new company, I was about to publish my first book (Living Green with Laura Mamo), and we couldn’t believe our luck to have… Read More Paradise Cove, Tiburon (Day 37)
I woke up sad and anxious this morning. Sad because I dropped Eliza off at her dorm last night and somehow it wasn’t any easier this time than it was when I dropped her off for the first time in August. Seriously, I cried so hard when I got back to the hotel room last… Read More Little Ross Bay (Day 31)
Hours later I’m still buzzing from my swim today. Lake Crescent in Washington’s Olympic Peninsula is one of the most beautiful lakes I’ve ever been to and I’m giddy with the thrill of having gotten to swim in it. Also profoundly grateful that this challenge gets me out exploring places I might otherwise miss. Had… Read More Lake Crescent (Day 28)
Yesterday I started a road trip through the Pacific Northwest to bring my daughter back to Victoria, British Columbia where she goes to school. High on my list of IMPORTANT things to consider while planning was finding places (and times) to swim. Yesterday I swam at the bulb before I left so that took care… Read More La Quinta Inn (Day 27)