Flies on S**t

Next Swim: Mon 7/19 5:45 AM Klode

Last Swim: Sun 7/17 noon Klode

Water Temp: 67?

Waves: Calm

Water Clarity: Good

Crew: Gumdrop, Diablo, Kahuna, Patriarch

Whodathunk that after yesterday's freezefest it would be warm enough for a skin swim today? What a surprise! The water temps are going up and down like the stock market. For the most part the water was very warm, but there were also pockets of very cold water that literally took your breath away.

On the way back up the bluff I was attacked by swarm of biting flies. Diablo, helpful as always, pointed out that flies are attracted to piles of s**t.

Speaking of s**t, the beach is still listed as "closed" on the Beach Health website, but the last actual test of the beach was done on Thursday morning, which of course is basically meaningless three days later. They used to test every day, so I'm not sure what the deal is.

I have no doubt that the recent torrential rains caused lots of water quality issues for the lake. MMSD dumped partially treated sewage into the river and the harbor mouth, which of course is many miles from Klode. I think the bigger issue for Klode is the storm sewers that run directly from streets into Whitefish Bay. We swim past several of them. While they're not draining sewage, they're certainly full of gas and oil from the streets, lawn fertilizers, insecticides and other gunk. From what I've read, the lake has an amazing ability to absorb all this stuff, and the lake as a whole is generally very clean. But you wonder how long that can last.