Same Lake, New Beach

I got up three hours earlier than normal and went to a new beach. I met up with V and her friend J. I almost never get to swim in daylight, so it was a real treat to be out during the day and to be able to make it to a group swim. I

Swim, Then Float

Today at the lake…I went for a late after swim with a neighbor, M. I met her a few weeks back when we were both swimming at the beach close to my house. I asked her to join my FB page, and she did! So, lucky for me she was just heading out for a

NightSwimming

Today at the lake, I finally got to do a real night swim with V, another swimmer I met via online FB groups. I’ve tried to organize a couple of Friday night swims on the FB page I started for women who swim in the lake….and they never get off the ground. But V also

Sometimes Just Walk

Today at the lake I met with C at the beach closest to my house. The water was flat, the air was cold, and the park was quite dark except for two bright floodlights on the wall of the park rec building. Neither one of us had been in the water recently, so we were

All The Things

Today at the lake…I swam for 15 minutes, I floated on my back, and I tested out new swim booties. I hope I also inspired two little kids to start thinking that most obstacles are not that big. There is usually a way around them. The water was nice and flat. 45 degrees F. Maybe

New Beach, New Buddy

Today at the lake I visited a new beach and met a new swim buddy, E. I was excited to try out this beach because it’s nice and open, right at the end of an urban neighborhood (as opposed to in the middle of a park). It’s visible, there’s ambient light, and because it’s not

Awkward Re-entry

Today at the lake it was challenging getting back into swimming after a long break. I haven’t been for a proper swim since October 30th. I felt fussy about my face getting cold. My wetsuit was leaking water through the neck. It was hard to swim. No, it was hard to breathe while swimming. Amazing

That was one fine adventure

Today I was a total sea witch. I was a badass. I was fearless. I got my butt kicked by the waves and exposed by the wind. I swallowed water but didn’t drown. My snorkel didn’t work, but I dove into the waves, over the waves and across the waves. The whipping sound of the

Crazy Waves Thrilla

Today at the lake…we played “jump the waves,” aka try not to die. We arrived to actual whitecaps and gale force winds. Two of my swim buddies, K and K, walked up, and I said, “I don’t care. I’m going in.” They said, “we’re going in.” Awesome. We tried to set up under one of

100 Shades of Grey

Today at the lake, we swam in the rain, we saw two herons (or the same once twice) and an eagle, and guess what else? I found my swim buoy belt that I lost yesterday! It was lying in the parking lot, right where I dropped it. Yea. I had a long doctor’s appointment this

Skin Like a Seal

Yesterday at the lake, a bald eagle flew above me, looking for food. I didn’t see it, but my swim buddy, K, did. I’m bummed I missed it, but really glad it didn’t attack me. I see a lot of bald eagles around the lake. So fancy.  My new wetsuit is working out really well.

SeaWitch Don’t Care

Today at the lake it was cold and windy, and I forgot my snorkel. One of my swim buddies, K, cancelled due to “white caps” on the lake. I could see them from my house, but I went anyway. “Cause that’s the kind of woman I am. I grew up in the midwest, and played

New Gear, Night Walking, A Gift

Today at the lake…I wasn’t at the lake! But I found some buddies for swim dates tomorrow and Friday. Also, two packages arrived at my door. A college friend sent me her husband’s fancy wetsuit. I think it’s barely a year old and looks totes new! Thank you, M and L. I had ordered the

3mm Makes All the Dif

Today at the lake …the Sea Witch is f-ing back.  Wow. What a difference a wetsuit makes. I got back in the water today, and tried to rock it. The new gear made all the difference. I was hoping for a calm, flat water day, but I knew before I left for the lake (I

The Plane

Today at the lake…it was cold, windy, and kind of bitchy. Or maybe just aloof that comes across as bitchy. I was meeting a new swim buddy and with my caretaker, M. I got cold and tired of waiting, so I decided to go in. The waves were making noise, and the water was dark.

Spun Around

Today at the lake it got ugly. For the first time I am starting to doubt that I can keep doing this. The water was so cold. I felt like the back of my head and neck were going to freeze. I’m reading a book on the brain and PTSD, and just last night I

Flat Water Better

Today I had my friend, M, bring me to the lake because I wanted to see and hear the water, then go for a walk in the paths and count bunnies. On the way to the park I told her that I might have to give up lake swimming until spring, and that I felt

Bunnies

Only saw two bunnies today on my walk. I think they know that I have fallen in love with the lake. I don’t need them as much anymore. But they are wrong; I still need them. Lots of them. [mc4wp_form id=”931″]

Getting Out is Worse

Today at the lake….I learned that getting out of the water after my swim is harder and way more unpleasant than getting in the water. Today I had two people with me, a swim buddy, and a guy who arrived at the same time. I suggested we all go in together so we wouldn’t back

Sighting

Today at the lake it was sunny and warm. Lots of picnics in the shelter areas, and others walking in the park. I met with a new swim buddy today, and I was so relieved to meet her. I put in so much effort trying to find swim partners, and I was going to give

Alone

Today at the lake it was miserable. Cold, grey, and wet. I thought it was drizzling, but when I left my house I realized it was actually raining. I didn’t care. First I stopped by the closest beach, just down the road. There was nobody in the water, and two guys just hanging around. I

Why

Today at the lake…I didn’t go! Kinda sick, but I had pt instead. I was trying to explain why I swim to my pt. ‘Cause I’m a runner who can’t run. Also, sunbeams, weightlessness, magic. But the runner part of my brain is what gets me to enter the lake when it’s cold. The runner

Where am I?

Today at the lake it was dark and a bit ominous. I ran into two women from the swim club on their way out of the lake; they couldn’t have had less interested in talking to me. M thinks they were just preoccupied, but I feel like at least one of them just doesn’t want

Snorting

Today at the lake, the sun was shining, Mt. Rainier was peaking out of the clouds (pun), and the water was mostly flat. I had planned to meet a few of the women in the “plunger” group, which required waking up three hours earlier than normal. It was brutal, and no time for tea, but

New Water Shoes

Today at the lake it was grey and cold. And windy, so the mini waves made it harder to swim. The water was the coldest it’s every been for me. I usually walk quite casually out to waist- or tit-deep water, then start my swim. Today I had to dive in a thigh-level. It wasn’t

Jayhawks

Today at the lake….well, F. I haven’t been to the lake in days, like maybe 5 days. Feeling very funky, detached, depressed, and wondering what the point of all this bs is. Trying to fix the code on a website I should have finished a YEAR ago. But before I totally gave up, I made

Poetry Swim Club

Today in the lake, it was cold when I got to tit-level, but I dove in and started swimming anyway. “Cause that’s the kind of woman I am.” I warmed up very quickly.  I saw a couple small schools of fish….about 6″ long. Are they the 4-5″ fish from a couple weeks ago? If they

Fish and the Precious

So much to report. I have solved the fish mystery. I saw two of them together today. So even if one of them is my guy, he has a friend or sibling or whatever. I also saw a HUGE fish that scared the crap out of me. thick, tall, maybe 18″ long. And, I found

One Fish, Two Fish?

It’s driving me a little nuts. I can’t tell if the fish I see every day in the lake (about 4″ long) is the same fish and we’re …like…friends. or if there are several of him/her. I see little inch-long fish, too, but I don’t really care so much about them. Is it weird that

A New Lake

On vacay at a secret lakeside location. I’ve never seen such clean, pure water. Even when it’s 6′ deep, I can see the sand. The water is often so calm that it looks flat. It is perfect for swimming. Nothing on the lake bottom but sand, rocks, some random green lake plants. Lakeweed? It is

Unicorn Floaty

Before I arrived, I thought my friends kids would love the unicorn and think it was cool. But they didn’t. Or, they didn’t let it show for days. Fine with me. I spent a good part of every afternoon pulling the little ones around on the unicorn and on my donut float (a round inner-tube

How Good is Swimming for Me?

Just in time from CNN, another Ripped from the Headlines article: https://www.cnn.com/2021/07/16/health/swimming-covid-blues-weight-loss-wellness/?hpt=ob_blogfooterold&fbclid=IwAR04NfYLHc2KazQO4XCKOMvh7t0EqDRywVm1td_d4TosbvylOQnr13Qjd4o [mc4wp_form id=”931″]

Sometimes I Fall on my Butt

Today, I swam in my lake. It’s a huge lake. I look south and see Mt. Rainier. I look north and see other mountains in the Cascade Range, and I see hot air balloons. I am blissfully happy as I breast stroke through the lake (bum shoulder=can’t do crawl), my orange float bag trailing behind

Old Shark

Check out this 400-year-old shark. Ripped from the Headlines: https://earthlymission.com/400-year-old-greenland-shark-science-discovery/?fbclid=IwAR2tgWOPHsgWrIZgUem-P9yMFmb9do5LfxGLmsqu00a5zZrTinjFKG3Nb-M

I have a huge unicorn floaty!

I haven’t even taken it/her out of the box. Well, I have, and I dragged it to the lake, but I didn’t know that need a pump, like a battery-powered pump, to fill it up. The ten-year-olds said I was still cool for having a unicorn, so I’m good. [mc4wp_form id=”931″]

Choppy Water

Am I gonna get sick from all the water I’ve been swallowing. Have not figured out how to swim with the waves and movement of the lake water. And then boats go by, and the water gets all messy again. [mc4wp_form id=”931″]

Cape Cod

Close the beaches! Great white sighting. And here we are just a few days from 4th of July. Ripped from the Headlines: https://www.cnn.com/2021/06/26/us/race-point-beach-white-shark-no-swimming-order/index.html?fbclid=IwAR2USRDnh4rMu11DsyIadx0qdgbvOkKVnWl1uU_ZBDYicBv-M_21WJ-hBtU [mc4wp_form id=”931″]