beautiful fucking day!

yesterday morning 

after the madness of waking at 3am 

and drugging myself back to the land of nod

after my son waking me at 6.30 

and asking inanely if i wanted to jump on the trampoline

after a brief check of the faculties and 

finding mr temazepam was still in residence.

i thought if i was any more relaxed i'd be asleep

and then wondered why i wasn't.

the day was shaping fine

my fabulous wife came back from yoga looking energetic

my beautiful son and daughter woke looking like brady-bunch extras

and in a flurry of activity they were gone

to school. 

the house was quiet 

just the dog and I

the day was warm, like mid summer

the day was clear, like mid winter

and i thought delightful day for a swim.

so we went down to the ocean.

Coogee was a millpond, crystal clear and inviting.

hang on, i thought to myself

the only person swimming is in a steamer.

and there's only one of them.

i approached the water and dipped a toe in

the toe froze. and gave me pause for thought...

how cold could it really be?

i'll just have a quick dip

as my body entered the water 

before the freeze hit my brain 

i thought i'd better not swim out to far, or i'll drown.

how long does hypothermia take to set in?

my head was under the ice floe for three seconds

and i felt like a kid who's just eaten too much ice-cream

the swim lasted 20 seconds

and felt like an hour.

but when i emerged shivering into the warmth of the spring day

my body tingling with the stimulation

i walked back up the hill and felt alive

in a way that i hadn't before

mr temazepam had left the building

and i went to work.

beautiful fucking day!