I’m just back from a whirlwind weekend in Cape Cod to celebrate Helen’s 70th birthday. Boy did we celebrate! I woke up Thursday morning in the predawn and had my coffee, then went for a quick swim as the light was just returning. Then I drove ten hours and arrived at Laura and Helen’s beautiful… Read More Cape Cod
I woke up Sunday morning to see the warmth leaching from the lake and had to remind myself that I love to swim in cold water. It’s actually not that cold yet, or even very cold at all. It was 65° on Sunday, which is about what it was when I left the San Francisco… Read More Chilly
Sheila and Angie came for Labor Day weekend and it was so much fun. Those two have the most positive outlook on everything and experiencing the lake with them brought me a new level of appreciation for the life I have here. We spent long hours in our PJs reading books and pottering around the… Read More Friends
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
While we were in Calimesa, we got the sad news that our beloved brother-in-law, Thomas died. Thomas was Kevin’s sister Tracey’s husband, and father to Tanny, Danny, and Paddy. Kevin and I called him Thomas the first because he was the first person in the family to visit us at every place we ever lived… Read More Germany; Saying Goodbye to Thomas-the-First
My Albany Bulb streak broke on March 24 when I had a lovely sunrise swim with Arwen, Sheila, and Angie at Keller Beach. It seems sadly rare these days for all four of us to be together for a swim and so it felt extra special (though I didn’t take any pictures, except this one… Read More Calimesa and Carlsbad
I swam every single day of February and most of March (through the 23rd) at the Albany Bulb. Fifty-two days definitely marks my longest streak of swimming every day in one place. When I was swimming and blogging every day, I made an effort to mix things up just so that I’d have something to… Read More February & March at the Bulb
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
I have two major goals that implicate swimming in 2024. Number one is to finish my year-of-swimming memoir, which I spent last year busily working away on. Sometimes I think it’s nearly finished and sometimes I think I should throw it in the garbage. Number two is to make a temperature blanket: Each day I… Read More New Year New Swimming Schemes
A beautiful thick fog greeted us for our swim at the Albany Bulb this morning. I love a foggy swim, the way it erases all the familiar landmarks and you feel like you could be anywhere. I love the muffled feeling to the air, the mystery, the peacefulness that seems to settle over everything when… Read More Coldtober Day 15