I got a few bemused looks from the other swimmers, who told me, "Oh, isn't the water nice?" and "This is beautiful out here, isn't it!" They must have been hardy New Englanders.
Like my sister in Florida, and fellow blogger Douglas at Boomer Musings, I don't consider the water warm until it gets up toward 80 degrees. But one of the advantages of age is that you're no longer self-conscious about these things. You don't mind being the only one splashing around in a wetsuit. After all, I got to go swimming; otherwise I would have still been sitting on the beach.
The next day we went out to the ocean. But the beach was closed. Sharks had been spotted offshore. And indeed, we saw a seal bobbing in the surf only 30 or 40 feet from the beach. According to local wisdom, where there are seals, sharks lurk nearby.
We also took a little kayak trip through the marshes, led by a crusty old Cape Codder whose major frame of reference was John Kennedy, who seems to still be alive on Cape Cod. Our guide told us we would have a wicked wind to paddle against on the way out, but the way home would be wicked easy. Wicked, he told us, is a common expression among people on Cape Cod (maybe it comes from Boston?)
Anyway, we had a wicked good time for three days on the Cape. But I came home with a wicked bad cold. I'm feeling miserable, and it will be a few days before I come up for another blog post.
So I'm going to go collapse on the couch and watch some of the 9/11 ceremonies. I suppose feeling wicked miserable is the appropriate frame of mind for a commemoration of this wicked, wicked event.
9 comments:
I spent a week at the Cape during the warmest part of the summer with 25 family members. None of us would go in that frigid water beyond our ankles. I am spoiled by the gentle coolness of a southern lake.
I'm thinking about the last time I donned a wetsuit. Not pretty.
I hear everyone is afraid of something and that "something" for me is sharks. I hear cello music every time I look at the ocean.
I'm glad you had a great trip, but I'm sure sorry about your cold.
The last time I put on a wetsuit (just the jacket, mind you) was at Cape Canaveral Pier in the winter of 1964. The water temp was fine, the air temp was not. At least half of your body is out of the water most of the time surfing.
I look longingly at kayaks these days...
I am with you. Water temperature of at least 80 seems perfectly reasonable. We went to Cape Cod once in September--when the water is supposed to be at its warmest. We did not go in at all. Even wading was torture. There were a large group of Russians who floated around in the water all day--hardier fold than I even tho' I have some Russian heritage.
Ah. Cape Cod. Atlantic Ocean. Mmmmm.
Indeed it was wicked. Check out this link from the Washington Post:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/election-heatmap
Hope you're having a wicked recovery from that wicked cold. Yes, I prefer warmer waters and air when I emerge quite wet from any body of water.
Fun to walk the beach clothed with a warm jacket on a brisk day.
Enjoyed "Old Cape Cod" on earlier post.
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