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)
The wind came in last night; warm and wild, dry, forboding. Growing up in Southern California we called these dry, warm winds the Santa Anas because they came from the desert through the Santa Ana Canyon. Here in the San Francisco Bay Area, they are also sometimes called the Santa Anas, even though Santa Ana… Read More Santa Ana Winds (Day 22)
I was filling my water jug with warm water for after my swim when my friend Anna texted me: Don’t swim! After that, the notifications poured in. An underwater volcano erupted in Tonga and tsunami warnings had been issued for the west coast of the United States. As someone who is afraid of waves of… Read More Tsunami (Day 15)
One of my most memorable swims of 2021 was at Avila beach along the central California coast. My daughter Hazel and I drove down to San Luis Obispo for the weekend to meet my cousin Kathleen and her daughter Rory. I must have been in a particularly obsessed period of swimming at the time because… Read More Facing Fears (Day 2)
My first swim of my year of swimming was an easy swim to love. I woke up to sunshine on a beautiful beach in Baja surrounded by dear friends and family who were as eager to plunge into the surf as I was. The waves were rollicking and forceful as if insisting that 2022 was… Read More Plunging In (Day 1)