Another Beautiful Day in Paradise

View from the municipal pier that encircles Aquatic Park

In the morning I rode my bike down to Hyde Street Pier where I had volunteered to take tickets for We Players' performance of The Odyssey on a ship (which, btw, is fantastic). I wore my bathing suit under my clothes, hoping I'd be able to repeat my performance of last week, when I got into the Bay for the first time.

When my work was done, Ace joined me on his bike and the two of us went over to the Dolphin Club, which has showers, a sauna, a little beach of its own, and is open to the public for a $6.50 fee every other day. (The South End Club, next door, is open to the public on alternate days.)

This time, I brought an insulated swimming cap like I'd seen others wearing. I also brought underwear, so I could take my suit off after the swim and not have to bike home in sopping wet clothes. I not only got into the water, I swam out to the flag and back, which is a half mile. It was pretty hard for me, but also felt REALLY good to be in the water.

I also brought a little glass bottle with me, and filled it with Bay water to bring home and put on an altar I have set up in my hallway. When I opened my eyes while swimming, the water looked greenish and had particles of silt or sand in it, as I would expect. But the water I took near the shore is perfectly transparent. I am amazed at how clear our beautiful Bay water is.

Back at home, Ace sent me out to the store for some dinner fixings. It didn't take long to figure out that Halloween comes early to North Beach.

Only the Brave Swim in SF Bay

It was a gorgeous--and hot--day in San Francisco, as this man with a giant cupcake would attest.
Jack Cesareo brought his giant cupcake all the way from New York to San Francisco in one month. You can read about his journey here.

So I told Ace that I wanted to try to realize my four-month-old ambition of swimming in the Bay. Our plan was to ride our bikes to Sports Basement, where I would rent a wetsuit. Then we would ride back to Aquatic Park, where I would try my hardest to get into the freezing cold water. If I didn't succeed, well, at least we could take the wetsuit back.

On the way to the store, though, we noticed that the door to the Dolphin Club was open. I'd been thinking about joining this swimming and rowing club, which has been around since 1877, as a motivation to get me into the water. Once inside, I poked around the old three-level clubhouse, and noticed that many people were swimming, but no one was wearing a wetsuit.
View from the top level of the Dolphin Club

So I thought, what the hell... I walked down to their little beach and took my clothes off.
Step one of swimming in the Bay: take off your clothes. It's best if you have a bathing suit on underneath.

Then, inch by inch, I eased myself into the water, until...voila!
My first swim in the Bay. No, I'm not screaming. That's a big (foolish?) grin.

After I got out of the water, I put my clothes back on, which meant I immediately became soaking wet. That didn't dampen my spirits, though. A long-time Dolphin Club member I met today said once she got in the Bay, that was it, she was hooked. I think I know what she means...
Swimming in the beautiful San Francisco Bay made me happy

The Bay waters are calm inside the protective circle of Aquatic Park

Ferlinghetti Reads a Poem

LitQuake's big LitCrawl event is tonight, and I'm stuck going to a school benefit for work. :(

This is what they call a #firstworldproblem on Twitter. I love that phrase, because it acknowledges that we who have choices have no serious complaints.

The LitCrawl will take over multiple venues in the Mission District. Each hour, participants have 10 or so free events to choose from. Just looking over the schedule makes me feel excited. The school benefit will... Well, you don't really want to know.

LitQuake nearly passed me by entirely this year, due to conflicts my schedule (#firstworldproblem). I did manage to pop in to City Lights Books one night, though, and hear the legendary Lawrence Ferlinghetti read a poem. I barely managed to squeeze into a spot on the floor, and the camera angle isn't good, but you can hear his voice clearly. Consider it cinema verite.


Lawrence Ferlinghetti reads a poem at City Lights

Many people recited poetry and literature, including poet Michael McClure, and various translators of foreign works. Most praised New Directions publishing, which was the first house to publish Ferlinghetti, for bringing important authors to the attention of this country. I thought the best poem read that night was Lament of the Frontier Guard, a moving anti-war poem by Ezra Pound, another author nurtured by New Directions. After the readings were over, I went across the street to have a drink with Ace at Spec's.

City Lights as seen from the patio in front of Spec's