Author Archives: Mary McCormic-McInnis

There is a new baby orca in the Salish Sea. A happy report on the radio today also noted that several resident  pods gathered together for some kind of orca convention recently (none of them were wearing masks!) and  local scientists shared more good news—the whales are looking good, well fed. They are finding fishContinue reading “September 25, 2020”

Sea otters sometimes store snacks in their armpits. I did not know that until today. I also didn’t know until today that wool knee high socks would feel so good after my first official autumnal swim. Marking the Fall equinox was not intentional, but swimming today most certainly was. The bay was mostly quiet againContinue reading “September 23, 2020”

I am swimming again. Yesterday I finally got back in. Anticipating colder water after eight days of a smoke-choked sky, and unsure of how my time away would impact my tolerance, I opted for my selkie-hybrid: thermal cap instead of my regular cap, and otherwise my red suit and goggles per the usual. I consideredContinue reading “September 19, 2020”

You know you’ve crossed over into crazy when you wake up and seriously consider how to convert an N-95 mask into a snorkel so you can go swim in cold water. That or consider wading out into the smoke to collect whole clam shells during the morning low tide to make a bunch of these—yes,Continue reading “September 14, 2020”

I am a fish out of water today. Like most everyone able to avoid the outside world today due to the smoke, I stayed inside all day, leaving me feelIng cagey, taut muscles, tight jaw, edgy, hot, too dry. Even our dog moped around, listless, at a loss for the inactivity of his day. NoContinue reading “September 11, 2020”

Sometimes we have to dive under water, look below the surface to see clearly. And breathe easily. If there was a day to wish for gills, this was surely it. Today was literally one of those days. Above and below the surface I reflected on some points that needed attention. Smoke from wildfires raging farContinue reading “September 9, 2020”

Yesterday I swam with silkies, today I swam alone. There were three of us yesterday, on a slow leisurely swim, our heads bobbing above the waves like seals as we looked about and I shared this joyful place with two women friends. One I’ve known over twenty years, the other I met just weeks ago,Continue reading “September 3, 2020”

Everything ends up in the ocean. We are the ocean, each one of us. We absorb the poison, our waters sickened by oil, plastics, decaying fish, broken vessels, rotten trees. We take it all. And we have our top layers warmed by brilliant sun, and we go still beneath starry skies with blue whales breathingContinue reading “September 2, 2020 (Part 2)”

Almost every wall of my house is hung with an image of  water. We sleep every night beneath this painting, a masterful work by my friend Beth Van Liere, whom I met while working at Madrona House. A painting of Fort Warden, the beach, seagulls, the grass flowing and crashing along the path just likeContinue reading “September 2, 2020”

Water. Yesterday morning I watched a frolicking quartet of young river otters gorge themselves on fish at the entrance to the bay, from the dry perch of my small aluminum skiff. In the afternoon I had my foot brushed by a seal, at the tail end of a companion swim with my neighbor, Dave. TheContinue reading “September 1, 2020 (Part 2)”