Cold Water Swim - Feb 1 2023

 

Cold Water Swim

Feb 1 2023

If you can hold on long enough

in a cold water swim

    —   the kind of cold that makes you clutch at your throat, gulping air

      heart burst

      skin shrink

      and hands and feet leave your body   —

you reach a point of exhilaration;

a switch flips,

and the cold slips off

your pulse steadies

and this inexhaustible power

wells up within.

From who knows where

the heat in your chest

and this tingle of vitality.

And then, of course

there's the density of cold water;

the solid purchase

it gives your stroke,

the firm pull

and precise response.

Getting in, you're as tentative as the rest,

and if it weren't for the shivers

in the bone-cold chill,

the anxiety

would have frozen you there.

But getting out, you're invulnerable;

the cold air

loses its bite,

the snow doesn't cut

your unprotected feet.

Where someone waits

with a hot drink

and a warm hug.

The water streams off

your flushed skin,

and you grab a thick towel

to wrap yourself in.

Then take a few deep breaths

of invigorating air

and start tripping over your words,

gushing

at what took so long,

how you have to do this again,

and that you can’t remember

ever feeling so good.

Nothing very artful about this one. No fancy metaphors or analogies, clever call-backs, calculated ambiguities, or mischievous misdirection. Just says what it says!

We're having a prolonged arctic cold snap; long enough, that I’m not noticing it. This acclimation happens every winter, and I find it reassuring: that age hasn't caught up with me, that I’m still strong and capable. And also feel gratitude for living in a place with real seasons, and where — despite climate change, with all its unpredictability and extremes — winters can still be like the “old days”.

There is a feeling of exhilaration in deep cold when you're used to it and find yourself fully at ease when out in it. Which reminded me of cold water swims, where the same feeling exists, but magnitudes greater. It's so hard to muster up the courage for that initial immersion. But the reward is more than worth it.