I just took one of the coldest swims of my life.
The waves were giant this week and there was no sun, and with an outside temp of 35F with the wind it took all I had to go in that sea.
I could not wear my sew hat because I knew the waves would topple over me, so this time I went in sans hat and went underwater a few times to avoid the monstrous waves, a film crew was making a commercial on the beach and they looked at me like I was an alien or something. They had space heaters, or more like gas furnaces, and were still cold with all of the wind blowing and the lack of sun. I kept telling myself not to feel as I detached my winter coat and clothes before going into the icy waters. My hot water heating system was cranked up really high, in fact, I feel I had the temperature control on the highest setting so that when I took my hot bath I wouldn’t run out of hot water. I soaked in that hot bath for about 30 minutes before finally getting out and getting into some overheated fluffy clothes to settle down for my workday. Now, with my trusty radiant heating system beside me, I am finally overheated again and ready to take on the afternoon. I feel so much more zest after taking the cold water dips, which is the main reason I do this crazy ritual all winter long. I’m just gleeful to have a good natural heating device on me right now; my cat.