Eagle bonanza

It turns out that I was exhausted after my swim festival because I was sick - I had some chest cold that left me feeling exhausted for about a week and a half. It took two whole weeks before I could go swimming again, or really do any exercise. I'm better now, though, fortunately.

Last week we had a day where it got up to 76 with sun! It was so nice out that at lunch I had to go to the lake for a swim even though no one else could join me. The dock was covered in Tufts students enjoying the sun. I sat on a bench for a little bit and enjoyed it too. After a while it was time to get in. Even though it was warm out the ice shelf was still there, so my goal was to swim out to it, of course. I got in and headed out slowly, got to the shelf and tested it out. It was still a couple inches thick and when I put my weight on it it felt solid. There was some slush on top which actually made it easier to climb out, and as I was thinking about that I heard a general buzzing from the dock. I climbed out and stood up and all the students applauded me - it was pretty awesome, to be honest. Since it was so nice out I stayed in for over 10 minutes. When I got out my watch said the water was 37, which is still pretty cold. After I sat on a rock in the sun in my dry robe both feeling warm on the surface and also shivering. It was so weird.

Yesterday I met a friend at the lake in the afternoon. There were a ton of bird watchers and people with telephoto lenses, which had to mean eagles! Soon we saw three giant birds flying overhead. I wasn't sure if they were eagles - the body type looked right, but I didn't see the white heads. Later there were 5 of them, and one had the white feathers - I think the others must have been juveniles. It was pretty windy out, and they were catching drafts, hanging out, and just doing bird stuff. We swam for about 10 minutes - I went to the ice shelf but it was a little cracky and so I didn't get out on it. The water was up to 39. On the drive home I saw three more sitting on the ice, just hanging out and chilling. 

This morning I went and hung out with my friend in Gloucester at the quarry. We were a little worried that it would be frozen over and not swimable, but when we got there the was just enough cracking in the ice at the shore that we could get in. It was fun walking around on top of the ice, popping in and out of the water, and moving the ice around on the surface. The water was 39 there, so getting warmer, but still cold enough to get a nice shiver on the drive to get pancakes. I love that it's quarry season again!