. Angie joined me for one last 2022 sunrise swim at the Albany Bulb. Later today I’m off to England for some much colder swims. I’ll miss this place that has brought me such joy this year and was glad she saw me off with such magnificence this morning. Each sunrise swim is a surprise.… Read More One Last Sunrise for the Road (Day 353)
As is so often the case these days, I swam into the sunrise this morning. Sometimes as I’m setting off in the dark, I wonder why we keep planning these early swims and then I remember that we aren’t necessarily changing our patterns, but rather, it’s the sun that’s changing hers: rising a little later… Read More Another Sunrise (Day 348)
I had to scrape a thick layer of ice off my car window before I could set off on my swim this morning. I nestled into my swim robe and dreaded the cold ahead of me. But when I met up with Arwen at the Albany Bulb, the sun was shining in a nearly-cloudless sky… Read More Peaceful Swim (Day 347)
I only sent yesterday’s blog post today because I stalled out on it before finishing. I think it’s getting more difficult to write in these last few days because the conditions have been relentlessly, monotonously, gray. The days are morphing together in all of this gray and, though I am loving my swims as much… Read More Relentless Gray (Day 284)
I had a lovely swim with Arwen and Sheila this morning. We theoretically joined the 8 o’clock gang, but we dilly-dallied and went out by ourselves, which suited our need to do some chatting and catching up before putting our heads down and swimming. It was so nice to swim together again—we were just missing… Read More Swimming with Friends and Seals (Day 282)
It was another gray morning; fog swirling around as I arrived at the Albany Bulb. The air was chilly and the water uninviting as we reluctantly unlayered at the circle. Getting in was hard, too. The days of diving straight under the waves are over. Now I jump around in the shallows, slowly edging my… Read More More Seal Sightings (Day 281)
Twenty-four hours later, the gray landscape of yesterday was all blue skies and bright sun today. Edy, Catherine, Marcia, and I set off into the cool, clear water; Edy and Catherine with more gusto. Marcia and I dawdled a bit and then chatted with Lizzy and Becky, who were just finishing their swim. Eventually, we… Read More Curious Seal (Day 276)
It’s the day after Labor Day; the day that should be the first day of school; the day that will always feel like the first day of school to me. Today is the day that says: summer is over, get your shit together. So, with the intention of setting myself up for a productive day,… Read More Peaceful Waters (Day 249)
Sheila and I arrived at the Albany Bulb to news that there was a shark carcass decomposing on the beach. We didn’t investigate and the water was as it’s been these last weeks; dark rusty brown and a bit murky, but still somehow beautiful and refreshing. We went earlier than we have in a while… Read More Dead Fish (Day 242)
Whitecaps and waves and a glistening clear view of the city after days of haze greeted me at the Albany Bulb today, telling me it was going to be a wild, wavy swim. It was. I headed out with the 8 o’clock crew, finding some folks at my pace and sticking close to them. Somehow… Read More Wild Ride (Day 233)