On our drive down to the bulb for our swim this morning, Kim and I joked about the coming winter, the plunging water temperatures. “I can’t wait for my antidepressant to return,” I said. “I know,” she said, “I need my euphoria drug.” Many think we are crazy for loving the cold water as much… Read More Keep Swimming
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 woke much too early and after vainly struggling to go back to sleep, I got up and made coffee. It was a good idea. Snuggled on the couch in a blanket with my warm mug, I watched the day make its slow arrival. Every time I witness dawn near a body of water I… Read More Sunrise
This morning was all pastel pinks, silvery greens and pelicans swooping in from every side. It was the most perfect kind of morning down at the Albany Bulb. No matter where I go or how beautiful those places may be, nothing beats my home waters. As Colleen said of my potential blog post this morning,… Read More Coldtober Day 12
Well, Coltober did its work of revitalizing my daily swimming but not daily blogging! I am struck by how difficult it is to blog every day (or ever) and reminded anew that the greater accomplishment of my year of swimming was not the fact that I managed a daily swim, but that I actually wrote… Read More Coldtober Days 2-4
. 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)
Today was a lovely swim at sunrise with friends. It’s rare that Sheila, Arwen, Angie, and I all manage to swim together these days and so it always feels special when it happens. A frigid wind blew as we got into the water and with each wince and groan, I thought, it’s going to be… Read More Greeting the Day with Friends (Day 350)
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)
Sheila and I met at the Bulb at 6:30 for an early, sunrise swim. It was beautiful when we arrived; silvery and blue with a clear view of the city and bridge, dramatic clouds and calm water. We were cold getting in and, though the temperature was the same as yesterday (51), it felt colder.… Read More Blue Sunrise (Day 346)
Sheila and I met for a 6:30 swim this morning in the middle of a crazy storm. There was so much wind that branches were falling from trees on my drive down to the Albany Bulb. When I saw Sheila’s lone car in the dark parking lot I couldn’t decide whether I was glad she’d… Read More Stormy Swim (Day 344)