onionbagblog

With the pool closing for one day of the year and denying me my daily dip, where does a Speedo clad boy about town go to seek purification on Christmas Day? St Mary’s? Papa’s? The muddy banks of the Colne?

Not quite.

Instead, I bundled @AnnaJCowen out of bed [separate, natch] ripped open the wrapping for my new Scaletrix and then demanded that we go out for a brisk morning festive flaneur, along with the rest of the bon vivant estuary set.

I almost didn’t recognise my fellow swimmers with all their clothes on.

The smell of basting turkey was strong in the Queens Road air as early as 9am. A microwave setting of half an hour should suffice, Madam.

A leisurely stroll down to the Quay, and our “Good Mornings!” and “Happy Christmas!” greetings to relative strangers became more confident the further down the town we ventured. We might as well have been wishing “Happy Elvis Day!” - the enthusiasm would still have been evident.

Our route for our ramble was no great surprise: past the Sailing Club and out towards the Creek. A quick observation of the high waters, and then back where we came from.

For company we had a number of cyclists passing us at a steady pace. A Chapeua! greeting seemed appropriate. Sorry about alarming you, Sir, and causing a slight Christmas pile up just past the mid-way point.

A lone sailor was making the most of the downtime in-between peeling the sprouts and polite conversation. How lovely to see a Wivenhoe One Design keeping alive the tradition and sailing on the Colne come Christmas Day.

The mild weather turned slightly windy out in the open and along the bare crested sea wall. Rushes danced around in the sidings, not looking too dissimilar to the swaying revelers we saw walking up the High Street at midnight some twelve hours earlier.

This is a walk that @AnnaJCowen, and many, many other Wivenhoe locals enjoy week in, week out. Christmas is of course a special day (for some…) but the surroundings remain a delight for every day of the year. The perspective changes; the all-persuasive water forever changes the landscape with something new to observe.

A Christmas morning swim will take place at some stage.

Possibly.

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