Tonight Arwen and I joined a group at Keller Beach for a sunset, (nearly) full-moon rise swim. It was a perfect night for it; warm and clear, with gentle, calm water. Besides Arwen and Kira, most of the swimmers were new to me and it was lovely to meet so many other members of this… Read More Sunset & Moonrise (Day 279)
It was a swim reunion with Arwen and Sheila this morning. Sheila left for New York the same day we swam from Alcatraz and Arwen has been so busy with work (have I ever mentioned she makes beautiful music? You should go check out Cascada de Flores) that she hasn’t had any time for swimming.… Read More Chilly Water, Good Friends (Day 275)
A big gang of us went back to Heart’s Desire Beach in Tomales Bay today. As always with this crowd of Albany Bulb Swimmers, it feels like a celebration whenever we gather in any kind of numbers. Last time I swam here, I struggled mightily with the Moon Jellies, but eventually made a kind of… Read More Moon Jelly Madness (Day 268)
At my 50th birthday swim celebration, a beaming light of a woman I’d never met before handed me a homemade crown. It was delightfully decorated and personalized and if it surprised me that a stranger would make me a 50th birthday crown, five minutes into knowing Edy, it wasn’t a surprise at all. She radiates… Read More Celebrating Edy (Day 264)
By 4:30 a.m. I was wide awake and nervous. I ate a couple of protein-packed muffins I’d baked yesterday, drank my coffee, and worried. At one point Lulu woke up and wanted to go outside and when I opened the front door for her, I was blasted by the wind. Oh no, I thought. It’s… Read More Alcatraz! (Day 260)
It was Wendy’s (one of the regular 8 o’clock swimmers) last day today and a big crowd showed up to see her off. The conditions were lovely—one of those days when I arrive at the Albany Bulb and am immediately shot through with gratitude that I get to swim here. Silky calm water and overcast,… Read More Swimming, Food, and Community (Day 254)
Greg, one of our lovely Albany Bulb swimmers, put out an invitation on our google group to join him for a Labor Day swim in Bolinas this morning. I was intrigued by the idea, but having never met Greg, I didn’t think I would go. Then, yesterday, I found out Rosemary was going. I want… Read More Bolinas (Day 248)
As the heat began to descend on Berkeley this morning I escaped to Marin where several of the Albany Bulb swimmers were meeting for Caz’s birthday swim at Heart’s Desire beach on Tomales Bay. It was a perfect morning, impossibly blue sky and clear water. The beach was still pretty quiet when we arrived and… Read More Moon Jellies (Day 246)
Back in 2008 when I was still living in Montreal, I joined a writing group in California in anticipation of our move there. I was taking a leave of absence from my job at McGill in order to try my luck at fiction writing and knew if I had any chance of taking myself seriously… Read More Celebrating Kira (Day 232)
Sheila, Arwen, Angie, and I had a swift swim at Keller Beach and then soaked in a sauna. Keller was quiet when we arrived; the tide was low so our swim started with a slog through the muck and eel grass, but then it felt great. The temperature seemed cooler this morning; not yet cold,… Read More Swim and a Sauna (Day 226)