The bobbers are late getting to our regular Wednesday evening swimming habit. Maybe only a few weeks late. Most years we tend to start in early June. The tide was set well for an 8pm dip. And with no forethought at all I had called the bob for the exact time the England football team were playing a televised semi-final match. A good result for England as they won and a very good result for the bobbers who got a whole glorious seascape to themselves. Moments like this are a real privilege, we could swim out a bit and catch the evening sun. Hugo and Lola could sniff the incoming tide and fish for seaweed without irritating anyone. They do not usually come to a bob. Bobbers who drove could use nearly empty roads . It was a win-win kind of evening. If there was a chink of gloom it is that the water has not really warmed up to normal July levels and there were less bobbers than normal,but everything else was perfect.

Funny things happen at our bobbing sessions. Yesterday we took part in some smelling research. Luckily for me and my ailing/failing sense of smell it was an early morning swim when my sense of taste and smell are at their patchy best. I wasn’t able to identify any of the smells but they did still evoke memories of place and time which is exactly what the research was about.

What they actually were is a complete mystery.

My very early swims in Greece last week, 5:30 am, gave us the absolute best of Basil, Oregano, Geranium and Rose from the gardens of our temporary home. There wasn’t really a sea smell but the Flisvos ( sound of lapping waves) added to the early morning pleasures. If I were ever to run a sanctuary for burnt out humans it would be by the sea on a Greek Island and early morning swimming and walking through herb gardens would be essential therapy.

Happy Saturday.