With the tide...

High tide at Tregastel yesterday was around 2pm.

I'd been there the day before with a friend who hadn't swum for decades and whose worsening diabetes has made it hard to her to be active, which is, of course, a vicious circle. Anyway, we went and she tried to swim with the aid of a small board the Rags used when they were kids and then she settled for walking in the water with the aid of sticks.

I swam for 40 minutes but it wasn't relaxing with Tashi barking from the beach and me having to keep an eye on my friend...

Still, we had fun: we drank the flask of coffee I'd made and ate the marmalade and bacon sandwiches and hard-boiled eggs from her hens that she'd brought, and then we came home. Me, a little reluctantly, that sea was so tempting. 

Which is why I was back at Tregastel yesterday to enjoy a few hours by myself and with no-one to worry about, no friends, no dog, just me and the sea. And a venomous purple jelly fish. And a lot of large fish in the shallows. And several scuttling crabs among the strands of seaweed. And some fellow bathers, all French, all friendly but all respectful of each other's quiet time.

I ate a tuna salad that I bought at the Carrefour Express in Tregastel but I was impatient to be in the sea so I didn't wait for high tide, I went out to meet the incoming water. And I swam, and swam, and swam some more for three hours, with a couple of breaks for coffee...

I decided that I would like to be able to swim out to the pink castle at high tide.
That's my goal.
It is not just a physical, but also a mental challenge: to be brave enough to swim out of my depth, to trust myself to be able to do it. 

One day...

Meanwhile it was such a treat, such a pleasure. I hadn't realised just how much time and energy I devote to caring for and worrying about my friend. It was good to take time for myself.