Steve Mentz

THE BOOKFISH

THALASSOLOGY, SHAKESPEARE, AND SWIMMING

  • Home
  • Steve Mentz
  • Humanities Commons
  • Public Writing
  • The sea! the sea!
  • The Bookfish
  • St. Johns

Opening Day, with fire and water

May 31, 2011 by Steve Mentz Leave a Comment

I swam a fast 75 yards fly yesterday to warm up in the cold water, then turned over on my back to float and look back at the shore.  It was good to be back in the salt water.  Short Beach was in full summer madness, overflowing with people and colors and noises.  There was no wind when I’d plunged in, and the salt tang I’ve been missing all winter blended with the smell of a carcass of a 32″ sea bass, caught that morning off the point and already fileted for Memorial Day dinner.  The red body caught me eye as I walked down onto the beach to set up the kids on surfboards & inflatable rafts.  I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a sea bass that big.

Once out on the water, it was like I’d never left.  Salty, silent, isolated from sand and people, with a slow roll once I got past the sheltered cove.  The water was cold — 60 degrees 1 meter down, according to a UConn buoy, somebody said — but I wore my shorty wetsuit & felt fine.

How different is it from the pool, where I’ve been spending my early mornings since January?  That’s the question I’ll be mulling for the next few weeks.

Swam out to Half-Tide Rock & then timed myself on the way in.  6:18.  Probably a bit under 500 yds.  Could have gone faster with goggles, b/c I’d have been able to see better.

The real excitement yesterday was on land, at the fire up the street.  We watched all four of Branford’s trucks barrel down past the beach, responding to a house that had caught fire due to a cigarette left burning while someone ran to the store.  Pretty exciting, & also dangerous in our neighborhood of small yards and close-together houses.  Quite a scene, with the fire engines butting up against the surfboards and fishing poles.

Summer is here!

Filed Under: Blue Humanities, Swimming

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

About Steve

Steve Mentz
Professor of English
St. John’s University
Read Bio

Twitter Feed

Steve MentzFollow

Shakespearean. Ecocritic. Swimmer. New book Ocean #objectsobjects Professor at St. John's in NYC. #bluehumanities #pluralizetheanthropocene

Steve Mentz
stevermentzSteve Mentz@stevermentz·
4 May

Today's the day! I'm doing something a bit different in this lecture, shaping my thoughts around the work and intellectual legacy of John Gillis. It'll be recorded, for people who can't be in the room or on the Zoom today in Bern!

Reply on Twitter 1521728614169038849Retweet on Twitter 15217286141690388497Like on Twitter 152172861416903884935Twitter 1521728614169038849
stevermentzSteve Mentz@stevermentz·
2 May

Very excited to be in Bern, and I’m looking forward to the lecture and workshop!

Reply on Twitter 1521067987679289345Retweet on Twitter 15210679876792893455Like on Twitter 152106798767928934515Twitter 1521067987679289345
Load More...

Pages

  • #shax2022 s31: Rethinking the Early Modern Literary Caribbbean
  • OCEAN Publicity
  • #SAA 2020: Watery Thinking
  • Creating Nature: May 2019 at the Folger
  • Audio and Video Recordings
  • Oceanic New York
  • Public Writing
  • Published Work
  • #pluralizetheanthropocene

Recent Posts

  • License to Kill: Daniel Craig and Ruth Negga in Macbeth on Broadway
  • Remember Me? Specters of #shax2022
  • Fictions, Genres, and Planetary Waters in Auburn
  • Oceanic Turns: Five Linked Sessions at AAG 2022 (Zoom-NYC; 25 Feb)
  • Merchant of Venice at Tfana (Feb 2022)

Copyright © 2022 · News Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in