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."

KICKING ON MY BACK IN THE GLOAMING

WHAT? 

 The decrepit old grouch hasn't been in salt water for two and a half months? 

True. I'm embarrassed to see the last dated entry here. I have an excuse, but, as they told us frequently at sea back in my Navy years: Excuses are like assholes...everybody's got one.

Age 68? Dang!  Body parts don't function properly.  Lungs, airways, intestinal fortitude.  

Health and wimpiness have limited me to a bit of swimming & kicking with a kickboard in the backyard pool. Where did my grit go? 

The sun was close to setting yesterday as I finished a strong cup of joe, sitting on my lazy ass with my 18 x 12 inch ice pack snug on my back, making changes to pages of a novel that I will never complete (about poor old people). 

 I have one of those foot-wide elastic lumbar wraps to hold the ice pack in place. Over that I tighten my super-size, hard back brace, which helps the 2 squished discs stay near where they're supposed to be. (When I'm really tortured, the four TENS unit patches go on first & I turn up the juice.)  

By the way, TENS units don't do jack shit; they distract you a little with the buzzing on the skin, but for "pain management" I classify them along with meditation, cognitive therapy, anti-inflammatories, zoom groups on-line with other VA pain patients, and other crapola considered as pain therapy. 

I drove the 15 minutes and got to my disabled parking spot right on the sand! It must have been the caffeine working! My mind is weak. I'm aware of it.

The last of the sun was disappearing as I donned wetsuit & cap. Dammit, I LOVE the water!  Ambling into the very low tide, 1-3 foot friendly waves and falling forward into 3 feet of supporting water is like pressing the schrader valve to let the pressurized air out of a car tire. Whoosh, gravity's pressure on discs and nerves is removed instantly. There's a loosening of scrunched body parts as the weight of salt water pushes one upward. 

 And people...hardly any in the water in the twilight. But lots of wise folks sharing tables full of food and conversation.  I lie on my back, my fins lending grace to my movement out to the solitary water past the soft waves. My back is not hurting, just my neck--it doesn't rotate much after 2 neck fusions. I look up, kick easily, leaving my neck alone, and I am a happy person in a natural world that seemingly is mine alone. 

Those folks who knock California have no idea...and that's a good thing.  

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

7 p.m. gentle swim

I'm taking things gently these days in the water. Surgery in a few weeks. Wearing my fins and enjoying the water itself, the buoyancy that I love, and the absence of stress in the experience.

What was it? "The journey, not the destination."

I'm working on that.

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

Harbor Beach 6 p.m. Wed. Crowded

Lots of people in the water and more on the sand this afternoon in Oceanside. Great weather. Warm water at 60 degrees. 

Lifeguards busy as the water was rough. Five footers crashing in every ten seconds or so head on, no shape for surfing. 

I wore a wet suit but didn't need it. Used the fins as usual these days as I went out to inside of the big waves. There was a strong current.

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

I wouldn't call it swimming, but...

After weeks away from the beach, getting into the backyard pool only several times, I finally got my broken back into the water. Much warmer since my last visit. The day was gorgeous, as is usual here.

Lots of people enjoying summer weather. with the family. Rare for me to visit when the public is there also. Missing the winter cold quietude.

I can't swim. Put the fins on and lazily kicked around gently for 20 minutes or so. The waves were close together and rough. The photos never convey how rough 4-foot waves can be. Poor shape for surfing.

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