Swims and Superblooms

“In the winter of 2022-2023 I was introduced to open water swimming in California. At my first swim, the water was 53 degrees Fahrenheit and a total shock to my system. I walked away with ‘the buzz’, as the other swimmers called it. Thus began a life of frequent trips to the coast to get my cold, wild swimming fix. I loved being in the open water. There, I felt closer to home, and closer to some kind of spiritual presence that gave me courage to face each week. 

My newfound love of open water swimming was thwarted by an especially wet winter in California. We experienced more than 30 winter storms, many of them coming with destructive winds, tidal surges, and flash floods. Our beaches and swimming areas were often ridden with debris. Aside from concern for our citizens and beaches, I had a childlike frustration about the swims I was missing out on with each storm. But I learned to be patient and bide my time in swimming pools between trips to the ocean.

As winter drew to a close, I heard whispers of a superbloom happening. ‘What is a superbloom?,’ I wondered, never having experienced one before. ‘Superbloom’ is a colloquial term used to describe the awakening of flowers, fields of flowers, that often follows an especially wet winter. As spring 2023 began, my trips to the coast started to include visits to such fields of flowers. Poppies, goldfields, checkermallow, and so much more. The brightness of spring outshone the dreariness of winter and promised brighter days to come. 

Now, when it rains in the winter, instead of lamenting a lost swimming opportunity, I ask myself ‘will there be a superbloom this year?’ As we spring through 2024, it looks like there will be, and that makes me so happy.”

- Kimberly Stowers