This Beautiful & Terrible World in Magical Realism

It’s been a roller-coaster summer so far. My own life is relatively calm, but every couple of days we wake up to something horrible in the news. All this life lost, all this craziness politically. Hate to say it but sometimes I think, what is the world coming to? Even small things like how animals are processed for food, it’s so terrible and it made me think about how little respect we have for life in general, and maybe it’s unavoidable that this trickles up to bigger things. Maybe it’s no wonder this world is how it is. I try my best to stay in my little Manhattan bubble but I am honestly shocked and dismayed on a daily basis.

Anyway. After the unsuccessful swim I went on to a few small successes. The first was an 18 miler with the current along the West Side of Manhattan. I was very nervous because I knew I’d need to maintain a 2 mph pace to make it in before the current changed. But I really focused, and I made it comfortably. Starting under the George Washington Bridge, heading down the Hudson River on the New Jersey side was a new experience for me. Past Inwood, and Columbia University, the 68th Street Boat Basin, Midtown Skyline and gorgeous little homes on the NJ sides. Past Hoboken, Jersey City, and our stunning Freedom Tower, which never ceases to thrill me. Being on the NJ side we had a much better view of Lady Liberty and Ellis Island. The last few miles were a slog and the wind picked up and I was thrilled to be done.

The next weekend A was away for a wedding in St. Louis and got back Sunday morning. We got packed, picked up the rental car, and headed to New Jersey. Picked up my friend near Rutgers, then drove south to Atlantic City. Checked into the hotel, picked up kayak, picked up supplies, had dinner (Tony Bologna’s pizza!) and then took a nap before heading out around midnight. Met up with our Captain, loaded the boat, slathered on zinc and then started right around 1am. This was a 22.5 mile swim around Abesecon Island (Atlantic City) and a really special one that I’d been planning for a while.

Since the 1950’s there had been a professional marathon swim race around this Island, and I always hoped they’d bring it back so I could swim it. They never did, so I decided to do it on my own. Hired a great pilot and set a date of this summer. I love the history of this place…all the grit and the glamour…gamblers, lifeguards, bootleggers, sideshows, and the Miss America Pageant. How great would it be to swim around the original Boardwalk Empire?

We started out around 1am from Historic Gardner’s Basin, then went around the corner into the ocean. All the casinos were stunning lit up in the dark. Water was around 70F/21F in the Atlantic Ocean, pitch black and as I looked down at my hands the bubbles made glowing trails in the dark. Amazing. Sun rose around 6am as we headed out of the ocean around the corner of the Island, making our way back into the Bay. This is an interesting swim because it includes two very different waterways, the Atlantic Ocean and the protected Bay at the back of the island. Swimming in the Bay was pretty too, all little beach houses and boats. I had to fight current at the transition points because I was making good time and got to each checkpoint a bit early. I kept in good spirits though and this made me happy that I could maintain a decent pace. The back waters were a bit more boring though, and I actually fell asleep at one point (!) This had never happened to me on a swim, even though I have gone much longer and much more sleep deprived. I think it was because the water was so relatively warm. The good news is that I kept on swimming, although A said I was going very crooked until I woke up. I thought it was funny that he knew - he knows me so well.

One of the highlights for me was swimming past Lucy the Elephant - one of my favorite parts of Atlantic City history. It was built in 1881 by an architect who specialized in animal-shaped novelty buildings. Lucy’s “sister” building was the Elephant Hotel in my training home base of Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York. This building had a salacious history as an attraction, hotel, and finally a brothel before burning down in a tragic fire in 1896. Both of these structures also inspired an elephant shaped brothel/opium den at the iconic Moulin Rouge in Paris around 1900, which is featured in Baz Luhrmann’s “Moulin Rouge!” which as you know is my absolute favorite favorite favorite. Of all these, Lucy is the only structure that survives today.

Toward the end of the swim we rounded back to the last corner and saw all the Casinos again. The Borgata, the Water Club, the new Showboat Casino that had just opened the night before. Very different during the daylight than the night-time. I loved swimming there at night. We rounded the corner, went under the last bridge and then finally into the marina again. Final time just under 14 hours for 22 miles. I was happy. Celebrated a little, returned the kayak, said goodbye to Captain Stu, then showered and got back on the road. Dropped off Sarah, made it home by 9pm or so and curled up in bed with wine and pizza.

I worked from home the next day, did yoga, worked out normally the next day and life continued as normal. Work, workouts, trying my best to eat healthy and not drink too much. I’ve been going to the Library pretty often and reading a stack of books each week is probably the best thing I can do for my mental health, other than exercise. I probably drink too much wine, and definitely bought more Chanel than I need, but I’ve kept it fairly reasonable and acquired some really nice items. Wearing something beautiful each day lifts my mood.

Last Wednesday A and I left for a trip to Italy. I had been there once with a girlfriend, but never with him and never to Milan. We had a surprisingly nice lunch at the airport with two martinis each. Had a few glasses of red with dinner, watched “The Lobster” on the plane and then fell asleep. A almost never sleeps on the plane, so that was great. Unfortunately he woke up feeling horrible, so we got in the rental car and drove right to our hotel in Gozzano. Took a nap and then woke up for a walk and a short swim. The forecast for the weekend was NOT looking promising. Thunderstorms were predicted through most of the weekend, so I figured it was unlikely the swim would go off.

We had a gorgeous dinner on the plaza in Orta San Giulio walked around and went to bed. The next day was super rainy - we got up for breakfast on the (covered) terrace but had to move inside halfway through because the wind and rain was so strong. Took a nap after that and didn’t get up until it was time for the swim briefing. Met my fellow swimmers and the organizing team, then went home, had a quick dinner and went to sleep. Weather forecast was still dismal but after the briefing I had the feeling they’d try and let us swim unless it was catastrophic lightning.

Woke up early the next day and it was grey but not raining or windy. We drove to the Lido de Gozzano, picked up our kayak, got greased up and it was a go. Swim was 27km but I wondered how much I’d get through before the storm came. Most of the other swimmers were in wetsuits, but the water was super warm, a consistent 73F/23C degrees I’d say. Swimming up the first side of the Lago d’Orta was really beautiful but there were patches of wind against us. A had this huge tandem kayak, which was actually pretty good in the wind. We were going past all this gorgeous scenery, beautiful villas, shrines to the Virgin Mary, and even a silvery waterfall. I tried to keep my mind positive, and then suddenly we were halfway. I was worried about making the checkpoint as the cut-off times were pretty fast, but I made it with time to spare.

Around halfway the weather started picking up. The wind and waves were pretty big, but they were actually working in our favor, pushing us in the right direction. I swam and rolled with the waves and was feeling good. Then suddenly, there was thunder and sheets of rain coming down. The waves got bigger (usual for a lake!) and the rain was really heavy. I saw lightning hit a hill about 100 yards off shore which was a little crazy, but I figured we were less of a target as we were close to shore where there were buildings/hills/etc. At one point I could barely see and the race officials came by and asked it we wanted to continue. They told me everyone behind me had dropped out but I said I felt great and wanted to continue if I could. They said to keep close to shore and we kept going. During the worst parts of the storm I kept looking over at A and we were just grinning at each other. There is a movie called “XXX” with Vin Diesel where he is an extreme athlete about to do a stunt and he yells, “I LIVE for this shit!” This flashed into my head as I think it captured what we both were feeling. The storm lasted about an hour and most of it was so joyful, another one of those “flow” moments in swimming. I collect these.

We kept going down the other side of the lake, around peninsulas and then finally past the beautiful island in the middle of the lake with a gorgeous 13th century Basilica. I knew I was close to finishing one I passed that. On this side of the lake there were more gorgeous palazzos and it was fun to see the neighbors out on their terraces and docks enjoying a lazy Sunday. The back end of the lake was a bit wider, so as usual the last 10% of the swim seemed to take forever. Then the finish arch was in sight and I swam in the last few meters with A next to me. Walked up on the carpet, got a medal, dealt with our gear and tried to scrape the zinc off. Worst part of every swim. They did the awards ceremony. Really nice awards, and even though I was dead last I still won my category because the super-fast women were younger/wetsuits and everyone else dropped out.

Went home, showered, went to the store and got red wine/baguette/burrata/tomato for a quick dinner and then passed out. The next day we went for a drive/hike up Il Mottarone, a beautiful local mountain, then down the hill to Lake Maggiore, where we had a lovely lunch in the town of Stresa, outdoors by the Lake. This Lake was huge and incredible and I wished we had more time to explore. Drove back, took a nap, went to dinner and ran into some friends in the Plaza. We pushed a couple of tables together and they joined us for amazing wine and snacks as the sun set over the lake in front of us. They had heard about a fireworks festival in a local town, so we drove out there, watched the (amazing!) fireworks, had some beers at a local restaurant, and then said our goodbyes.

Yesterday A and I had one last breakfast on the terrace, drove to Milan, and got back on the plane. Got home in the early afternoon and extended our vacation by having a leisurely lunch/dinner with a bottle of wine at a local spot. Slept well last night and then back at work today. I feel good about things as long as I don’t think about it too much.

Last updated July 26, 2016