The Beauty of Brine

Oh beautiful day in Californ-i-a!!! Yes it was hot! hot! hot! as in 107º in the valley and more or less the same in various locales throughout the county, but it is summer! And gimpy here, has a selfish post to share why it is more beautiful than the average roasting day . . .

I went swimming in the ocean! Yes, Twin Lakes Beach, right next to the harbor. I crutched out the wheel chair path from Crow’s Nest, and then crutched through the sand to the water where I plopped down on a rock and fought less than gracefully against my wetsuit (but I did win) and with the help of my dad, crutched into the ocean, dropped between waves, crawled, and swam like hell out of the surf zone and into the swells. Kicking is still a no-no, so I fought the urge to tread or throw in the occasional breast stroke while redirecting toward the buoy and swam to buoy one, then two, and almost three. 

I know, I know, “almost” sounds pathetic, and not far from there was my preferred goal, the cliff, but this is where things got exciting. Between buoy two and three something smooth and grey came into view between myself and my destination, which was still off a ways. Seal, right? That is my first instinct too but mamacita here is always up on the latest gossip (not really), such as a shark citing in Monterey Bay?! What? The goggles went up and floated, waiting for a second glimpse of grey sea critter. Finally, a seal came up, far enough away that I could sigh . . . and see a fin! One fin, two fins, three, four—oh my goodness, look at all these dolphins! No sharkies playing around here, no sir-e. Amazing. I was swimming with dolphins, in Monterey Bay. The only reason I turned around was Mr. Seal—seals are huge, and have teeth; three yards was a little too close for comfort. But it was perfect. Sea weed, dolphins, seals, salty water, my favorite view of the harbor lighthouse, even a smooth return to land via body surfing; I could not have wished for more. How is it that the ocean never ceases to give and yet, never looses itself?