Well I did it. I swam all 26 letters of the alphabet with a few repeats. Some need imagination. By my count, we swam in 10 lakes and ponds this summer.
Please enjoy My Alphabet Book
challenge
On a roll
We hiked with friends on Sunday and then swam to freeze off. We created, what I am sure would have been, a beautiful “R” but my gps hiccuped. Instead, I improved my “P”.
Today I was motivated and it paid off. Three letters! I could still feel my fingers when I was done. Drumroll…
“T” is missing because I already swam it when a “K” fail became a “T”.
Since I started at the end of the alphabet, I only have one, maybe two letters left. Maybe, because I could flip an “M” to make it a “W”.
We’re going kayak camping this weekend. I may really complete this challenge.
Just say no
Or not yet to fall. A tree has already changed in the Adirondacks.
But I’m stil swimming.
Letters of the day: “N & O”. It took a bit of flipping and turning to make it legible. I stopped the track when I was still across the lake so I didn’t have to backtrack.
Shaking it up
The water is starting to warm up again. I swam without getting hypothermia and there were even a few other people splashing in the lake.
“KLM” Is next but there are issues.
I don’t know what happened with this “K”. The bottom leg is way too close to the start.
But if I flip it over, I’m ahead of the game and have a “T”.
“M” needed a little tweaking.
Not sure what I was thinking when I started it sideways.
Next up is controversial. I took a short run for the first time in quite a while.
And ran an “L”. I’ll have to think about this one.
In the meantime, the wildlife is getting very comfortable in our front yard. The other day, I woke a fawn up when I went to check on my bees.
It was a dark and foggy swim
And it was perfect. It looked intimidating when I arrived, rain and thunderstorms were predicted for later.
I had the pond to myself and it was a good thing because I have to get busy. Water temperature is dropping as nights get cooler. I heard it was 30 f degrees last night on Goodnow Mountain.
All I know is my fingers go numb from Raynaud’s phenomenon at about 45 minutes. Today, I brought a dry change of clothes, wool hat and fleece jacket, so I was better prepared. Then I cranked the car heater up to 85 and took a long, hot shower when I got home.
It was a three letter day. As I try to draw more letters, their connections clog things up. I cleaned it up a bit in anticipation of my upcoming alphabet book.
I have decided order is not important because I will separate them into individual letters. May I introduce “J”, “I” and H”, better known as “HIJ”.
How do you spell golf
Begin with a “G” and end with an “F”. After I played a quick round today, I headed to Chapel Pond to swim and continue my gps alphabet. It was only a short swim with a tiny “G”. I was on my own and forgot my float.
Yesterday we rode the new section of the rail trail from Saranac Lake to Floodwood, 18 miles round trip. It was lovely: great surface, pretty flat with views of Lake Clear, Little Clear Pond and Hoel Pond. This is a terrific use of the old rail bed.
Another snake.
On the home front, we have a couple of cheeky fawns. They are not at all impressed with us but left my crop of 3 tomatoes alone.
Time to get a move on
Summer is flying by. Nights are cooler and “tropical” Storm Debby dumped some very cold water in the Adirondacks.
I hoped to swim 3 letters today but my fingers were numb somewhere in the middle of the second letter.
I tried to sneak in a tiny “f” At the end but it doesn’t count it because it’s not legible.
Tim shivered the whole ride home with the car heat set at 80! My fingers were so cold, I couldn’t button my flannel shirt! (I got some help with that task).
New beginnings
They can’t all be winners. Today’s swimming goal was the letter “A”. I had a good plan. However, I swam back to the wrong starting point, because someone parked to the side of my stuff, with a bag that looked like mine from across the lake.
If I had aimed correctly, I would have achieved this.
Too many conditionals in that last sentence. I’m sticking with the original and calling it an “A” even if it could pass for an “M” and maybe even a “W”.
I spent yesterday afternoon tuning a vintage Singer 20 toy sewing machine. It was made sometime between 1920 and 1950. My father had cleaned it and got it moving before he died several years ago. Then it sat. I may have the need for a truly portable sewing machine soon and decided to get it running.
Thank you Youtube and Alex from England who clearly explained the parts and adjustments. By dinner time it sewed beautifully.
I might have to skip around the alphabet the next few days because we will be island camping and may not have the same blank canvas to draw on. So many options. “B” could be a challenge.
Swimming the alphabet
It’s summer and we have been swimming in lakes and ponds since mid -May. I wore a shortie wet suit (an old scuba diving suit I cut the legs and sleeves from) for the first two weeks until Memorial Day.
Tim is on a quest to swim the largest lakes in the Adirondacks and I come along for the fun.
I’ve decided to draw with the gps map of my swim track. Today I made an “x” or even better, a bow tie.
I had a little trouble retracing my lines to extend my swim.
This adds a whole new challenge to swimming. I have to plot my course and pivot points in the water. I think “Y” or “L” is in my future.
Island and North Country Life 