Next swim(s): Weekdays 6am and 6pm; weekends 8am and noon
Air temp: 64
Water temp: 64.8
Waves: none
Clarity: 8/10
Kru: Linda the Lamprey on the early shift, Lydia the Tattooed Lady, Mermaid Princess, Abby, Mr. Anonymous, Magic Mike, June, her husband and their friends, and at least one other "young guy" swimmer who I did not connect with...
********
Ya gotta be careful. 
You can go down to the lake every morning: plate glass bay, beautifully arcing shoreline, sunlight dappling through surface water and playing against the bottom. You can connect with your Kru, you can meet other regulars down at the water. Simple greetings, occasional conversations--the stock and trade of a trip to the beach. Not even the asshole red-winged blackbird can ruin your trip. You can live in that for an hour and a half, two hours. Then come back the next day and many of those same elements are at play again. You might run the risk of all this feeling ordinary.
You can go down to the lake every morning: plate glass bay, beautifully arcing shoreline, sunlight dappling through surface water and playing against the bottom. You can connect with your Kru, you can meet other regulars down at the water. Simple greetings, occasional conversations--the stock and trade of a trip to the beach. Not even the asshole red-winged blackbird can ruin your trip. You can live in that for an hour and a half, two hours. Then come back the next day and many of those same elements are at play again. You might run the risk of all this feeling ordinary.
Fortunately we all know that our experience is far from ordinary. This is why we keep coming. This is why we swim when the water is colder, more tumultuous, and muckier. We know that anything the lake throws at us is some form of a gift. I struggle to understand the gift behind water that suddenly turns 46 degrees when the air temp is 90 or above. This hasn't happened yet, but we're fools if we think it never will. So we buy expensive wetsuits and prepare ourselves for the gifts to come.
Mean time, Lake Michigan is always there. Come on out for a swim, there's plenty of room.
8 comments:
As avid open water swimmers for the past few decades, US and internationally, my wife and I are especially happy to now be swimming in Lake Michigan. It's truly a magical place - scenic, serene, awesome nature. It's wonderful to see this active swimming group reaping so much enjoyment and setting such a welcoming tone. Thank you! Bill and Kristen
Magic Mike is throwing some shade towards the Red-Winged Blackbird denizens of the woods bordarying the beach. "What we have here, is a failure to communicate." If Mike only understood what the RWBs are trying to say to him, he might not be so critical. Fortunately, this website provides a dictionary of RWB calls:
https://journeynorth.org/tm/spring/RedwingDictionary.html#:~:text=The%20song%20is%20given%20on,call%20(%22Hey%2C%20look!
Que the incomparable Louis Armstrong singing "If we could talk to the animals": https://www.google.com/search?q=talk+to+the+animals+louis+armstrong&rlz=1C1GCEA_enUS868US868&sxsrf=AB5stBhFux95Pv9eRimb9iyMSz5ooy4JvA%3A1689860334330&ei=7ji5ZIjdE-2kqtsPxcCWiA0&gs_ssp=eJzj4tVP1zc0LDExSDZIMyk2YPRSLknMyVYoyVcoyUhVSMzLzE3MKVbIyS_NLFZILMotLinKz0sHAKrUEbM&oq=talk+to+the+animals+lo&gs_lp=Egxnd3Mtd2l6LXNlcnAiFnRhbGsgdG8gdGhlIGFuaW1hbHMgbG8qAggAMgUQLhiABDIIEAAYigUYhgMyFBAuGIAEGJcFGNwEGN4EGOAE2AEBSLArUKAHWJgVcAJ4AZABAJgBxQGgAf8JqgEDMC43uAEByAEA-AEBwgIKEAAYRxjWBBiwA8ICBxAAGIoFGEPCAgYQABgWGB7CAggQABgWGB4YD8ICBRAAGIAE4gMEGAAgQYgGAZAGBroGBggBEAEYFA&sclient=gws-wiz-serp#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:95260fb9,vid:_RnZmj1NCVM
https://www.cbsnews.com/detroit/news/lake-michigan-marathon-swimmer-returning-to-fundraise-aims-to-swim-more-than-80-miles-2/
54°
Here's the call your website missed, Kahuna: the nasty demonic hiss that little f*&%$@ makes right before it takes a peck at the back of your head, swirls away when you try and fend it off, then comes back again for a second shot. Denizen of the woods? Try devil bird!
Sweet Jesus!! Back to 71°.
https://captimes.com/news/education/heads-up-beware-of-red-winged-blackbirds-during-nesting-season/article_c80aeecc-e5c8-597a-8788-faa69e0918b4.html
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