Beautiful Day

 Water Temp: 64 per thermometer but felt more like 61 per Buoy

Air Temp: 70

Wind:  Very calm

Waves: Tiny ripples

Skies:  Most sun we've had in awhile, smoke blessedly abated

Clarity: Decent

Kru, wetsuit: Lt. MJ, Dragonfly, 2 unknown dudes who swam south (we all swam north)

Kru, skin: Showgirl, Mermaid Princess, Magic Mike

Next Swims:  Saturday-Sunday 8 a.m. and 12 Noon, Monday-Friday 6am & 6pm  (post a comment if you are looking to swim at 6 a.m. on Saturday or Sunday.  One of our crazy people might be interested!)

I was struck with gratitude this morning for the simple, basic kind of beautiful day we have taken almost for granted in past years.  The smoke this week has been really challenging, with some folks avoiding the beach and those of us who insist on going unwisely anyway, missing their company.

Last night I had gone to bed feeling anxious and depressed, weighed down by the weather.  This morning, the near-clear air and bright sun lifted my spirits magically.  Afterwards, over coffee and bagels outside Bruegger's bakery, I felt such a sense of peaceful well-being, warming in the sun.  Maybe the first time I have sat there this season without shivering!

I also want to take a moment here to note how much I enjoy & admire the literary abilities of the other blog writers, and also of those who post in the comments.  In addition I have learned much from the scientific discussions of flora, fauna, and appreciate the sharing of books and thoughts on other topics.

{Yes, I was guilty of conflating the phlox and dame's rocket.  Apparently I learned nothing last year.  Maybe this year it will stick.)

What we have is a rare intersection of great wild swimming and great people, or maybe the Lake just brings out the best in us.

Coming and going

Last swim: Tuesday, June 27 6am

Next swims: Mon-Fri, 6 am and 6 pm; 

                      Sat & Sun, 8am and noon

Air temp: 64

Water temp: 58, + or - 3 degrees or so, I guessed. 

Waves: 12-18 inches out of the northeast

Clarity: 7/10

Kru: Mr. Anonymous, DragonflyRiffraff, Showgirl, Magic Mike, two swimmers who I crossed paths with on my return swim

Yesterday, the sun was shining and I encountered this little fellow flitting about as I walked up the path at the end of the swim.

Today, however, the sun struggled to shine through the Canadian smoke hovering over our part of the country. 

Before swim

After swim

The cold(ish) water had the slight swell described above, making the swim back from the north a little faster. 

As I swam I thought of a few counterintuitive naming habits we have for the landscape we swim past. Here are a few of them:

We call at least two sections of the bluff to the north "mudslide" even though there is little to no mud evident any more, to say nothing of sliding mud; we refer to "two cute chairs" when most recent observers only see one chair there; we call it "three piers" even though all the piers have been removed; there's a place between "three piers" and "two cute chairs" that I have called "one man beach" even though I have never seen a man or  woman on that beach. Can we see the "Love" on "Love rock"? I don't know the answer to that last one, because I have not swum south this calendar year!

Most of these situations come as a result of changes, both natural and human created, that alter our landscape. The lake however, remains relatively constant. The big houses have come and will eventually leave. Huge pieces of rock will delay erosion of the expensive properties along the lake's shore, but they won't stop it. Piers, chairs, boats and pipes show up, stay for a while, and then go away. Some days the lake is calm, some days it's rough. Cold water...warm(er) water. Clear water and cloudy. They are all variations, but they will always be variations. Constant change.

Speaking of things coming and going. These goggles were left up at the flagpole. If they're yours, I have them and can easily arrange a hand off. I'll be showing up at 6am for the rest of the week. Lemme know in the comments if they're yours. 

Last swim: Tuesday, June 20, 6am
Next swim: rest of the week at 6 am and 6pm, or any time any of us decides to swim!
Air temp: actually not sure, but it was lovely, and warmer than the water...
Water temp: 63℉ 
Clarity: really clear, we could easily track our swim by watching the ripples of sand along the lake bottom, sun glinting, shadows casting, entertaining.
Waves: very slight, essentially flat
Kru: there were three or four swimmers out on the early shift. It looked like Laguna and Sunny, Mr Anonymous, and perhaps Mystery Man? Then there were Mermaid Princess, Fin-fyn, Lydia (oh Lydia!) the Tattooed Lady, Gabby, Magic Mike, and another woman I have not had the good fortune to meet yet, but who definitely seems familiar with the Kru (I should get out more).

Because I am all together too cheap to go off and buy a new wetsuit, and because I have destroyed the cheap ones I always get, I have been without a wetsuit this spring. For a while, in the crazy water-warmth of this early spring, that has not been too much of an issue. But in the course of the last week or so, the water has been just shy of comfortable without a wetsuit. People often swam anyway. Today was a reward. 63 felt mild and the clarity and the sunshine added to the reward. 

I have been reading Roger Deakin's book Waterlog this spring (thanks Sheila). The subtitle, "A Swimmer's Journey Through Britain" is a hint that it is something of a swimming travelogue. Considering some of the places he swims-- muddy ditches, the moat around his house, the industrial Thames in London, other places where he arguably shouldn't be swimming-- I am reminded of the privilege and damned good luck we all have to be able to swim in our lake every day. A few dead gobies are nuthin to us!

Happy Juneteenth!

 Water Temp: 60 per Magic Mike's toemometer 

Air Temp: 64

Wind:  Almost none

Waves: Gentle lifts and falls

Skies:  Pale, but sun visible

Clarity: Must have been some

Birds:  Minimal

Fish:  We set up at north end, none beyond whatever is left of the gobies

Kru, wetsuit, 5:30 a.m. early shift:  Mermaid Princess, Lt. MJ

Kru wetsuit: 6 a.m. shift: Showgirl, Fin-Fyn, Dragonfly

Kru, skin:  6 a.m. shift:  Linda the Lamprey, Magic Mike

Wim Hofers:  2

Next Swims:  Saturday-Sunday 8 a.m. and 12 Noon, Monday-Friday 6am & 6pm

This is an amazing time of year and I can't get over how fortunate we are to have Lake Michigan in our backyard.  This is what we've been prepping for since, well since last June....

The peonies are blooming

The phlox is proliferating

The purple martins are in residence and raising families

The cardinals are calling

The breeze is wafting the cottonwood spores...

It's all happening.  Nature is so amped up and spiraling to the crescendo that is the Summer Solstice.  The entire Universe is getting ready for this massive celebration.  I feel for many people this tension will be ultimately released with the huge fireworks displays on July 3rd and 4th...unfortunately I have aged into this cranky person who somewhat actively dislikes fireworks and all that is associated (will be making an entire Netflix series on that, lol.)  

For me, I will find release in the cool still mornings like this one, characterized mostly by what was not happening:  no stink, no swell, no gobies, no screaming gulls  Just peace and so much time and space to think, or not think, and just swim.

Mermaid Princess and Lt. MJ; photo by Lt. MJ

The Adventurous Spirit, or, Best Non-Swim Ever

 Water Temp: 56 per Buoy

Air Temp: 56

Wind:  Big chilly wind from the North

Waves: Big long Graybeards

Skies:  Gray

Clarity: LOL

Birds:  Major flock of seagulls, plucking delicacies out the deep

Fish:  Gobies, Large (2 foot) dead fish half buried in sand

Kru, wetsuit:  Lydia the Tatooed Lady, Mermaid Princess, Mystery Man

Shore Support:  Showgirl, Fin-Fyn, Magic Mike, Dragonfly

Wim Hofers:  6

Next Swims:  Saturday-Sunday 12 Noon, Monday-Friday 6am & 6pm

I have long referred this subseason - between the false promise of Early Summer and actual Summer, which usually starts around July 4th, as Winter-mer.  It was a classic Winter-mer day, with gray skies, howling winds and cold, filthy crashing seas.

Nothing however would deter the adventurous spirits - LTL and Mermaid Princess raced into the surf, where their cavorting and frolics proved irresistible to the Mystery Man, who soon joined them.

Joined by Mystery Man.  

As the three bodysurfed toward shore, the gulls left their posts and circled over them hopefully, thinking these wetsuit warriors were actually some tasty new bounty being delivered by the waves...disappointed, they took up their stands again along the water's edge.

Skeleton Kru

  Water Temp: 57 per Buoy

Air Temp: 64

Wind:  None

Waves: None, slight ripples from NE

Clarity: Enough to see watch below surface

Kru, wetsuit:  Showgirl, Mermaid Princess, Forger, Dragonfly

Kru, skin:  Mr. Anonymous

Wim Hofers:  1

Next Swims: Monday-Friday 6am & 6pm, Saturday-Sunday 12 Noon

Conditions almost the same as yesterday, just not quite so.  Quiet, still & stinky on the beach.  A reddish sun peeking through clouds. Air slightly warmer.  Clearly we were the bright spot in the morning.

Into the (Stinky) Void

 Water Temp: 58 per the LTL (fka TTL)

Air Temp: 60

Wind:  None

Waves: None

Clarity: None

Kru, wetsuit:  Showgirl, Lydia the Tatooed Lady (aka TTL aka LTL), Mystery Man, Dragonfly

Kru, skin:  Fin-Fyn, Magic Mike

Shore Support:  SpongeBob PoopHead

Arriving at the beach we were overcome by a powerful odor of old bird guano and after some strenuous mental exertion, made the call to set up north of the north barrier.  We were safe here for a time, until invaded by this species of SpongeBob that Lt MJ located amongst our stuff:

"I think Shore Support Mascot's expression is reflective of the chilly water (and maybe also the stench that was slowly wafting through the air,)" Lt MJ commented.  LTL and I speculated that perhaps the stench was emanating from this entity.

Also disturbing today was the mucky bottom, like mud you'd find at an inland lake....but no mud here, what could it BE????????

Despite the odds, we had a great swim with the flat, though uncomfortably cold, water.

Picture of fog, above.  Actually it wasn't quite a whiteout, but close - 

LTL prepares to launch.  Photo by Fin-Fyn.