july 24/SWIM

2.5 loops
lake nokomis main beach
66 degrees

We drove over to the lake this morning — I swam, Scott ran. Perfect conditions! Calm, empty water. No other swimmers or boaters. Amazing! Definitely a time for Mary Oliver’s “deepening and quieting of the spirit.” I wish I could do this every morning!

I think they’ve shortened the swimming area by taking out one of the buoys, so my 11 beach loops wasn’t as long as I thought it would be. Oh well. I swam for 45 minutes with my head only popping up out of the water every 5 strokes. Nothing but light green water to see below me, bubbles, and the occasional ghost vine. No seagulls on the buoys or big swans crossing too close. No other swimmers. I stopped two or three times at the far buoy: silence. When I breathed all I could see were Trees Sky Shore. When I lifted my eyes out of the water — alligator style — to sight, all I could see was the blue surface, dotted with something — water bugs?