Yesterday, Oliver and I swam in the Pacific, me up to my waist in blue water with seaweed wrapped around my ankles and Oliver all the way in, laughing and sputtering. The beach was an uncharacteristic gray yesterday, but the water was the perfect temperature -- the kind of cold that takes you a moment to acclimate to but then restores to what, for me, I imagine is my primitive, free self. The Pacific is infinitely colder than the Atlantic, at least the Atlantic of the south, and much of the year it's frigid cold, but in August and September, it's just about perfect. I've morphed into a Californian, and my boys are natives. Oliver agreed with me that the ocean in Hilton Head, where we most recently submerged ourselves, is more like a bathtub than anything else, and while that easy, gentle warmth is relaxing, the bracing blue of the Pacific is what we really love. And there are no jellyfish! Oliver shouted to me, over the roar of the surf.
I love the ocean here so much.
ReplyDeleteAh- you should try the Atlantic in the winter! It's a different body of water. The Gulf is fine with me. I do like a bath tub. The Pacific is incredibly beautiful though.
ReplyDeleteWow...I always thought that the Pacific was actually warmer than the Atlantic!! In my most happy dreams, I am swimming under water...and breathing easily. I will be on the Atlantic coast soon enough.
ReplyDeleteI like LOOKING at the Pacific, but for swimming, I am much more an Atlantic (or even a Gulf of Mexico) kind of guy. No jellyfish IS a major plus, though -- Oliver is right about that.
ReplyDeleteMakes me want to go to the beach right now! The Atlantic is much different in the south Elizabeth. I learned to swim at Hampton Beach New Hampshire --- 58 degrees! Brrrrr
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