Monday Morning at the beach

Next swims: M-F, 6am and 5pm; Sat & Sun, 7am and noon

Last Swim: Monday 6am

Air Temp: low 60s

Water Temp: about 70 

Waves: slow rolling 6-inchers, barely even breaking on the shore, lots of room between them

Clarity: none!

Kru: Scuba, Mermaid Princess, Luna Laguna, Magic Mike

There was nobody in the lot except the guy setting up for the fitness class and a bunch of garbage left by yesterday's beachgoers (c'mon people!). On the way down the hill I encountered a handful of Wim Hofers coming up.  Two of the four or five people said my name. As some of you can attest, at 6:00 in the morning, I am barely conscious, a little spacey, and definitely without words. So when I hear my name being called, it takes a moment for me to establish focus. There was my neighbor, Ranji. This was a familiar, expected and friendly face. I hope I returned his greeting properly. Then there was Katie, a colleague, who I did not expect to see. I traded a few words with her and continued down wondering at how inarticulate I am at that hour. 

This is a shot from a couple of weeks ago, not today. It's what I expect to see every day when I show up at the beach. I just felt like there needed to be a picture with this post!

At the beach level was Scuba, finding a chance for a lake swim in the absence of the Schroeder pool, which is apparently down for a few weeks for routine maintenance. As we greeted each other, Luna and the Mermaid Princess arrived. Critical mass had been achieved! After some discussion of the new rock pile, and some recollecting of weekend swims, attention turned to the water.

The aforementioned slow rolling small waves promised a gentle, rocking swim. Nothing turbulent, but not flat either.  Closer consideration revealed a lot of green organic mater floating at the water's edge, mucking up the entry into the bay. We found a small spot about the width of a human along the southern edge of the beach without the muck and waded in that way, before swimming north. All murk, no clarity. I could not even see my arm going through the water. It is at times like these that I am thankful we know the contours of the bay so well. Otherwise I'd be worried about what I couldn't see under the water. I swam to mudslide, others turned at the wall. 

Scuba was gone by the time I arrived, and I was lucky enough to share the walk up the hill with LL and MP. I had some words by then.