YOUR DAIMON

Yes, the "Daimon." I see the word appear when I read of Alexander the Great and his years of warring with his Macedonians and Greeks across the Mediterranean Sea, the Balkans, the Near East, Turkey, Syria, south to the Levant and throughout Mesopotamia. 

He inspirited his troops by the strength of his Daimon, his warrior's spirit, that raged inside of him at varying levels through a decade. His leadership inspired the troops to follow him by the hundreds of thousands.

I had my own daimon as a young man, nothing in the neighborhood of a Greek mercenary or a Roman Gladiator, but an angry drive from within for a few years.

It has been gone for so many years due to health reasons but I felt it a little yesterday. It's odd; it's a sort of message to my weakened self not to yield to the cancers and the spinal surgeries and the fallout from them. 

The surgeon who cut my thyroid cancer out--along with lots of lymph nodes around my neck, told me to wait 3 weeks to get into the beach again. I'll be there. 

Have you ever dropped so low that you can't envision a rising from the dead? I sure have--so many times. 

Besides the nerve pain and the weird band of thick, glued skin around my neck, I sense the daimon returning. 

Thanks for the positive messages, folks. 

"The first time you quit is the last time you try."

OCEANSIDE, CA Never again, Harbor Beach

Harbor Beach, Oceanside, CA. I miss you so...

It's not looking good for me to get swimming in the water soon. I got a new diagnosis recently of a malignant thyroid cancer. The surgeons at VA La Jolla cut my neck apart, ear to ear for 6 hours, and glued it back together.

This is not a good procedure. My neck is sooo swollen and painful and choking me. Dead areas of nerves. Big areas of soft tissue that now feels like wood--hard as wood. I'm not even thinking about swimming. 

"The first time you quit is the last time you try."

Oceanside Harbor Friday Afternoon

The best I've felt in a long time.

Friday 3 p.m. Quiet beach at Oceanside Harbor. Low tide. Out past the waves visibility was 3-4 feet, which is good nowadays.

Water today crisp & perfect for an old guy. I kicked out & back more than I have in a long time.

I need to add this today (Saturday) because yesterday as I was stepping from the sand to the parking lot, there was a guy--about 50--leaning on his bicycle, and he commented to me, "Good workout out there."

I saw the trump/vance white ballcap on his head and --yes, it put a damper on my mood--not at the beach, man....

"The first time you quit is the last time you try."

THURSDAY 4 p.m. OCEANSIDE HARBOR

The beach was rather empty this afternoon, which is what I enjoy.  Can the tide get any lower? The water was knee-deep at the end of the south rock jetty. Great for kids to wade around, but chilly without a wetsuit. 65 today, Few waves that one could even call waves. 3 foot maximum on an infrequent wave far out. I saw one guy get a good ride on that one.

Visibility is lousy, 2-foot max. Not a cloud in the sky. Just an easy bit of kicking out, hanging out, and returning. Very relaxing swim!

"The first time you quit is the last time you try."

Oceanside Harbor Beach

4 p.m. on Sunday, 10-19-2025, I drove to the beach and the traffic was not going toward the water, but away from it. That makes me happy. Parking spaces empty.

I have decided not to brave the cold water so again I wore my wet suit and cap. Water temp about 65. Extremely low tide, just starting to turn I sensed at the end of my dip, but I didn't look at the tide times.

Mediocre surf conditions with beach-breaking waves lacking much of an angle for the 2 dozen late afternoon surfers. The highest set far out was 3 foot, I'd say. A friendly, mild 3 foot. No body smashing on this Sunday.

Glorious flat water with tons of moist sand for the children and young parents going knee deep and looking for shells and sand dollars. Almost none to be found.

No clouds overhead--really. I did see a thin layer of white cloud far in the sea to the north. As I lay on my back looking up at the small planes flying from the little Oceanside Airport, I was free of the world. 

Thank you, big sky and ocean spirits! 

"The first time you quit is the last time you try."