The most amazing swim last night after work. Perfect.
After two weeks of unreasonably beautiful weather in the UK, North Easterly winds bought a chill to the air making the sun and 27C a distant memory. The air temperature dropped - and with it the water temperature at the lido.
Drove up to Parliament Hill lido after work for a bit of a dip. The cold air hung the way it does sometimes. Arrived at the lido to find it totally empty except for three ducks processing around the water - up and down, side to side. Lengths and widths. A couple of young female swimmers getting ready to get in. All feeling a bit trepidatious. The air temperature is 15C, the water temperature is 15C. The sky is brooding, the sun is silvery grey and steely. Last week the sun was making the sunsets gold and mellow. Today, the sky is silver and steel. It's reflecting on the water to make that sharp and cold looking as well. There is a bit of a wind.
In dives the first girl and sprints off towards the shallow end. In dives the second girl chasing after her. Side to side go the ducks. I stand on the edge at the deepend watching the water lap over the edge of the steel rim of the pool. Curl my toes over the edge ready to dive in. In I dive. Gasp. Up and down and up and down. My arms sting a bit and my legs are stiff. It's beautiful though. The pool gradually fills up a little till there are about 15 people, mostly in wetsuits. Gee arrives - it's great to bump into her here and to watch her grin her usual big grin as she swims up and down loving it.
The ducks are hilarious. It's like they are trying to join in the fun, criss crossing around, weaving in between us. One time I'm swimming towards the shallow end and I raise my head up ever so slightly to sight, to try and avoiid the wetsuits who generally misbehave in the water... I look up and see right in front of me three little white bellies and three tiny stick like pairs of legs with webbed feet about a foot in front, gliding by perfectly, just ahead. The proportion is all wrong with them and us sharing the same space. They are so much smaller and swim so much faster with no apparent effort. These ducks are like the old ladies you see chatting as they do their head up breaststroke in pairs up and down the pool. Fantastic.
I swim for an hour or just under, by the time I finish my legs are stiff and my words a bit slurred. It's fantastic though, lovely. Purifying. All the day's stresses just frozen out of me.
On the way home I stop off at the supermarket to get dinner. I recoil from the refridgerated section - although I need to get some milk - I'm too cold to contemplate making myself any chillier.
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