Submersion day

Got to the beach today.  This isn't a short trip but straightforward at least;  one train through the city and out again, taking maybe 45-50 minutes, though I didn't time it.  Train stops near enough to the coast to walk it.  I think it's around a kilometre from Cottesloe Station to the beach?  Temperature around 30^C, a bit of wind bringing up the waves but not too rough.  The water itself was warm enough not to be a shock.  In my board shorts, I look rather like something that's lived in a cave for some time.  But I did spot a few others so was not alone in being spooky pale next to the tanned people.

I find the ocean to be great for removing tensions of all kinds, a cleansing which for me swimming pools just can't match.  One has to completely submerge, like one of those extreme baptisms.  This is my first swim since the cataract surgery last September.  I couldn’t get over being able to see everything from the water - beach, people, Norfolk pines behind the sand and even to see, sort of, underwater.  I spent maybe half an hour in.  The sun is deceptive as you don’t feel anything right away but I’m aware of it now, hours later, once home and taken a shower.  No burning;  I managed that at least but certainly awareness of having spent more time in the Big Room under the nuclear reactor than usual.

I need to remember this.  I want to go again while in a work period,  at least fortnightly, on a non-work weekday when kids won’t be there.  It wasn’t too crowded, not right at the end of the holidays, but I'd like it quieter.  I’m sure it’ll help mental health if I can get back into swimming.

Even looked at places to rent in Mosman Park, since Cottesloe itself is way out.  It’d be possible, if I got priced out of here, and close enough to swim more regularly.  I've been going to this beach for more than 50 years and it's pretty special.