Ice Shelf Breakup

Spring is coming - exciting news. We just sprang forward so it will be light until about 7, which will be so nice. This week is supposed to be in the 50's and lots of sun. It's always nice this time of year when we've gotten through the worst of the winter months and the dark. But, of course, it does mean that the lake is warming up again.

I took this week off of swimming/dipping because it was a busy work week - I had to work until 7-8 three nights, which was a pain. (and next week I have to work late twice. Boo) Also, though, I wanted to let my fingers recover a little more - they are still numb at the tips from the Big Swim in VT, though sometimes I can feel like they are starting to get feeling back. Anyhow, I was excited to to get to the lake for a Saturday swim since it's been so long.

When I got there it was sooo windy - 30-40 mph gusts, and I seriously questioned my life choices. The ice is all broken up and starting to melt, but walking down the dock I could see that the individual chunks are still thick. So, I decided that I wanted to get in one last shot at climbing on the ice - I mean, who knows when it will be back?

Because of the wind there was ice all the way to shore. I could either get in between the docks where the agitators are or further down the dock on the other side, where it was a little risky in terms of getting out. Climbing on the ice over the agitator seemed like a really bad idea, because what if you fell off in the wrong direction? So, I slipped off the edge of the dock into the water in a hole in the ice, hoping that I could use it to get out later (spoiler, it was pretty easy to get out with the ice around). 

The water felt so good! It was chilly at first, sure, but then I felt really amazing. I wore my thick gloves and my booties, so my hands and feet were fine. The first minute was, of course, a little brisk, but once I got used to it I was like "why haven't I been dipping more?" It's funny how you get that calm/adrenalin rush at the same time, and feel just amazing. I tried to climb on some of the ice chunks - one just cracked, a second moved around a lot, but I was able to get on top of it, but not to stand up. It was really fun and for the first time I didn't cut myself! Anyhow, the water was about 36 and I stayed in for about 5 minutes, warmed up and headed home. 

I feel like the water is going to be getting warmer and warmer, and swimming will feel easier and more refreshing as it does :)