Today, on the hottest day of the year, I had my first ever miso soup swim. I couldn’t have dreamed this up if I tried.
Breaking with tradition I slowly lowered myself into the bay off my aunt and uncle’s dock. I hoped to find my youngest nearby with his buddy, but they had headed up the bay by the time I arrived.
Underneath the heavy heat of August, the water felt shockingly cold and was literally brimming with life—this normally sleepy bay was a simmer of grateful humans in all manner of floating devices, motorized, inflated, paddled and adrift in suits—everywhere in between was riddled with seaweed and earthy debris, like a wild miso soup piled high with a rainbow of ingredients.
With so much company, my swim felt like a party—busy, distracting, happy…but without the rhythm and solace I normally find there and have come to depend on. And no room for a trance. With so much company, a trance-like swim might have left me running headlong into floating fiberglass or an unsuspecting paddle boarder.
After saying my hellos to my various relatives enjoying the cool water I settled in and made a beeline for the mouth of the bay. Never have I swam through so much seaweed. It wound around my shoulders, between my fingers, over my goggles and between my legs.
I felt a slight itch beneath my suit and after a few strokes I decided to investigate—the scrunchy culprit was a leaf. One little leaf. Demanding my attention.
All this floating matter felt like some sort of test. I opted to plow through, and other than my frequent site checks I opted to stay on course, more or less, to the road end and head back in the bay. It was good to cool down, but I felt a rush to get out. Like the too noisy party you can’t seem to leave.
The miso soup bay gave me my final surprise upon my return.
Normally my treasures from the bay are sightings, thoughts, a salty suit, renewed energy and a good appetite.
Today, as I rinsed off in the shower, I found that some of the soup came with me—yes, a dead baby crab along with some bright green seaweed.
Maybe I should’ve made soup tonight.
Mary Swims 