A very positive outcome of this temperature blanket I’m crocheting is the way it motivates me to swim every day again. I swam a lot in 2023, but it was remarkable how quickly my daily habit from the year before fell away once I didn’t “have” to do it. It feels good to be getting… Read More January in Victoria
This morning I went for one last swim with the Cold Water Addicts. A little snow still clung to the ground, but it was clear and beautiful. The mountains of the Olympic Peninsula across the Salish Sea rose up dramatically and, for the first time, I realized how tall they were. In the previous days,… Read More Healing Cold (Day 313)
It snowed yesterday; by the time we were driving back from dropping off Eliza in the evening, it was a magical winter wonderland. When I woke up this morning, snow still coated all the surfaces, glittering and white. A bitter wind made even letting Lulu out for a pee feel like an ordeal. Swim? Are… Read More Snowy Swim (Day 312)
It was rainy and cold this morning and I wasn’t especially excited by the prospect of getting into freezing water, but I was happy to join the Cold Water Addicts again at their usual swim spot: Ogden Point Breakwater. Even better, Kevin was joining me this morning (not to swim) and I was looking forward… Read More Ogden Point Breakwater (Day 311)
On my trip to Victoria last January, my swim with the Cold Water Addicts was one of my most memorable. It was the first time I’d ventured somewhere new for a swim with a group of strangers; my first time swimming in bitterly cold water. It was the swim that showed me that this year… Read More Spiral Beach (Day 310)
My excited anticipation to see Eliza today was only a little bit marred by my worry about having to swim at some point. I left Portland early with the idea that I would swim in the afternoon in Victoria. I didn’t really start worrying about this plan until I was on the ferry to Victoria… Read More Reunited (Day 309)
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)
Just look at this sunrise! Gaze upon that incredible, flat water. No wonder Victoria is teeming with lovers of cold water. I found a few swimming groups when I was planning my trip and a lovely woman named Catherine invited me to swim with her at 7:30 this morning. After my slightly nervous solo swimming… Read More Sunrise on Vancouver Island (Day 29)