Whitecaps and waves and a glistening clear view of the city after days of haze greeted me at the Albany Bulb today, telling me it was going to be a wild, wavy swim. It was. I headed out with the 8 o’clock crew, finding some folks at my pace and sticking close to them. Somehow… Read More Wild Ride (Day 233)
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)
My photos from today look like they were taken with black and white film; except for this first one where the colorful buoys and hats of the 8 o’clock swimmers are bright against the gray. It was a gray and blustery morning; stripping down to my bathing suit and plunging into the water was uninviting,… Read More Black-and-White (Day 231)
I went to sleep last night with the goal of waking up early for a 5:30am swim; we planned to watch the sun rise and the full moon set over the Golden Gate Bridge. I managed to wake up, but when I looked out the window, I saw nothing but clouds. So I sent a… Read More Solo Swim (Day 223)
It was long distance swim at the club again today and this time I wasn’t the only swimmer. Yesterday’s rain had cooled the lake a couple of degrees and it felt good getting in; refreshing, invigorating, and like I wanted to swim hard. It was sunny and breezy and the lake was full of energy.… Read More Wavy Swim to the Island (Day 187)
This morning was my last swim in the bay until August. The Albany Bulb sent me off with a wild last ride through crazy waves, fog that rolled in and out, and blustery winds. The waves felt an especially fitting goodbye since I will be spending the next six weeks swimming in a (mostly) tranquil… Read More Goodbyes and WTFs (Day 175)
The waves beat me today. Kathleen and I took our usual early morning trek to the coast, this time with my Aunt Elaine. For today’s adventure, we went to Fletcher Cove in Solana Beach where there was a group meeting at 7. I wasn’t sure I wanted to swim with them because they looked a… Read More Fletcher Cove, Solana Beach (Day 168)
Today’s swim was exhilarating. I met up with a One With the Ocean group at La Jolla Shores for another coach-led swim, this time in the ocean. Again Kathleen drove me down there in the gray early hours and we arrived at the beach to find lots of swimmers already in the water as well… Read More La Jolla Shores (Day 165)
We had a very fun celebration of fifty-four years of Angie this morning. Arwen, Sheila, Colleen, Kim, Kira, and I arrived early to blustery winds, gray skies, and choppy waves at the Albany Bulb. It was also low tide and so it was another mud slog and flop into the water kind of entry. But… Read More Celebrating Angie (Day 153)
It was another wild morning down at the Albany Bulb today. Angie and I met up a bit late, after my class and after we had driven our daughters to school, and we took our time getting into the rollicking water. For the first time in a long time I thought, why am I doing… Read More More Wind (Day 147)