Now that summer has arrived I am swimming in the ocean almost every day! The water has been especially warm this season, in the 70°s F most of the time.

Usually these days I go to Swami’s in Encinitas CA to swim. Two days ago, not having as much time as usual, I went over to Old Del Mar and found a great parking space on 27^th Street (a real find nowadays) and walked down for a dip in the ocean in the late afternoon.

It was the last day of June and we were having what we call June Gloom which we don’t seem to have much of these days! The water looked rough, the waves were big and the air had a slight chill to it. I was meeting a friend for dinner and my hair looked good so I almost did not go into the water! Then I thought,  Oh I will just walk in the shallows and then I decided to go for it!

I was the only swimmer in sight, save for a lone surfer off in the distance catching humungous waves and riding them expertly, one after another! At one point it did cross my mind the immense power the ocean has that one needs to treat with a healthy respect. While the ocean teems with life, it can destroy in an instant. Only six years ago a swimmer was taken by a shark not two miles from where I was swimming!  A very rare event in southern California. While living in Hawaii I was warned by the locals not to swim before 8:00 a.m. or after  5 p.m. because that is when the sharks come in close to shore to feed. I suppose that would be good advice to heed anywhere!

The water was so WARM it felt like Hawaii! The really warm current amazed me, so much so that I thought

I hope this water is clean!

 I got busy body surfing, riding the waves, not always that successfully, and all of a sudden the sun peeped through the clouds and I felt ecstatic happiness! I was a little girl again, reliving the experiences of swimming at beach parties in the early evening. I recalled swimming with my father and I could just hear his voice in my ears

Isn’t this fantastic!

And then Daddy throwing his head back with a look of exuberant joy on his face, scanning the horizon for the next big wave!

My body felt deliciously wet and satisfied in the warm salt water! A funny thing, I love the feeling of water going up my nose! It reminds me of learning to swim as a child and also swimming in the ocean as a child on Del Mar Beach!

Have Fun this Summer Enjoying one of your passions!

Have a happy and safe Fourth of July!

Bye for Now,

Francesca