For most people, the switch to daylight savings time is a brutal change. At my 7:15 exercise class this morning there was much grumbling about being wrenched from sleep at an ungodly hour. For me, springing forward is a chance to operate on a clock more in tune with the rest of the world. On… Read More Daylight Savings
The rain returned to the Bay Area this week, which was a glorious relief after our alarmingly dry January. The dingy air that has hung like a dirty film over everything blew away with the storm, and the sky has been crystal clear. What isn’t crystal clear is whether we should be swimming when it… Read More Rain
Five weeks have elapsed since 2026 began, and this is my fourth blog post. That means my New Year’s resolution to post a blog a week is not going great. But it’s not going terribly either. At least it won’t be going terribly if I actually sit down and write this post. If I publish… Read More Routine
This morning, I went for a solo swim for the first time in a long time. When I was swimming every day, I often swam alone. My commitment to getting my body into a body of water came first; finding someone with whom to share the experience came second. Now that I am no longer… Read More Alone in Community
I celebrated my birthday this past weekend with a beautiful swim at Chicken Ranch Beach in Tomales Bay. My cousin Kathleen was in town, and a gaggle of Blue Booby swim friends joined us for a gorgeous day of swimming, communing, eating delicious food, and lying around in the January sunshine, talking and laughing. But… Read More Goats
Happy New Year! It’s been a rainy start to the year with swims in a bay of questionable water quality, full of the detritus carried down storm drains. But it sure is beautiful! I’ve resolved to post once a week this year, which should be a huge upgrade from the once-a-year I posted last year! Unlike… Read More Happy New Year
This morning, I swam naked in the bay at dawn to celebrate the solstice with ten wild and soulful, joy-filled women. Welcoming the light in this essential way pried loose some of the grief that clings to me like cobwebs, weighs me down like rock. As we were splashing into the 51-degree water, someone shouted… Read More The Longest Night
I spent election night in the ER with my dad, his legs dark purple and so swollen they’d split like overripe heirloom tomatoes. We watched returns come in on the little TV in the corner while my dad was hooked up to an IV that was supposed to drain the fluid from his legs and… Read More Big things and little things
Wrapping up my Lac Louisa time with one last post. This year, I came late and stayed late. I experienced less of the peak summer fun and more of late summer restoration. I feel like my body and soul have rested and rejuvinated in ways I haven’t experienced in years. Peace, solitude, and lake swimming… Read More Wrapping up
I’m having a love affair with Autumn, which, like all good love affairs, makes me feel like I am the first person in the universe to ever feel precicely this way. Has anyone else noticed the change in the light? The sound leaves make when they’re falling in the forest? The scattering of leaves on… Read More Fall