The best thing about summer in Short Beach — one of the best things — is the feeling of salt on my skin. The water was cold today — NOAA says 60.4 degrees but it feels a touch colder — and my feet numbed up a bit before I got all the way in. For a short stay.
It’s like a hint of an exoskeleton, or gritty fairy dust on my eyelashes. Just an afterthought of ocean clinging to me several hours after my swim. A tangible sense of the changing season. The smell of the world, sticking to me.