Could ya turn up the heat just a scootch??

Next swims: Thursday, 5pm and Friday 6am and 5pm, Sat and Sun, noon

Last Swim: Thursday, 6am

Air Temp: nice, not so cold. But it was six am and I wasn't looking. I wore a sweatshirt, does that help?

Water Temp: 56

Clarity: very clear, with slanting sunlight

Waves: none, flat, glass

Kru: Pool Noodle, DragonFly, Showgirl, Lydia the Tattooed Lady, Kahuna, Magic Mike, Sheila (my friend and colleague, her first swim with the Kru), Diablo on the early shift.

This was the kind of morning we all wait for, nearly perfect. The sun shone generously on the entire bay, from Fox Point to Atwater. It looked like a giant glass plate. The air was warming quickly, with no breeze to cool it down. Aside from a gaggle of middle schoolers who seem to always need to get within two feet of each other then talk loudly, all at the same time, you couldn't ask for anything better. The kids bolted pretty quickly after I showed up. Sheila was there already (she encountered Diablo coming out of the water), and shortly after I came, the rest of the Kru arrived on the beach. Temperature taken, wetsuits donned, introductions made, the seven swimmers headed north. By the time I got to old Mudslide, it occurred to me that this was the kind of swim we dream of. Clear air, clear water, warming air temps. If we could have turned the heat up just a scootch on the water, everything would have been perfect.  The fact is, we're all pretty used to mid 50s in the morning. But you just know there will be a July or an August morning that will feature all theses conditions, AND water comfortably in the 60s. That's when I'm headed for Beach Rd.!

As I was introducing Sheila to the assembled Kru members, I stalled at Lydia the Tattooed Lady. I knew her real name, but I was also aware that her Kru name was different. So, embarrassingly, I had to ask.  She graciously filled me and Sheila in on the name. We spoke after the swim about the origins of the name, aside from the fact that Lydia has tattoos. She told us about the song. We talked about Yip Harburg, who apparently wrote it back in the 30s. Groucho Marx sang it in a movie. But as far as our Lydia is concerned, nobody's version tops this one. 

It'll get in your head, and may never come out!