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  • Writer's pictureSara Popp

One October Evening in Baywood

Ottered around again tonight with Ben, running into the bay at sunset. The wind whipped the water into choppy waves big enough to slap our faces with briny splashes. A few crested over Ben's head and he cackled delightedly. Songs from a wedding reached us even far out in the water, competing with the wind and the waves.


For the last two days I have had laryngitis - naught but a whisper and the occasional honk when I laugh. Hasn't stopped Ben's constant happy babble. Tonight he asked a hundred questions about love as I whisper-sang R-E-S-P-E-C-T and he bobbed up and down getting seawater in his mouth over and over again.

The sun long set, we watched the stars come out as we swam back toward shore. The sounds of the wedding grew louder. Ben wistfully talked about cake, and how fun it would be to go dancing instead of going home.

We realized rather abruptly that the blustery wind was gone and the water calm. Someone yelled from the boardwalk, and it took me a minute to realize they were yelling to us, "Are you guys ok?" I started to call back that we were great, but nothing came out. Ben hollered back, "Ok! We're happy!"

We were starting to get cold, even in our wetsuits. Limbs pretending to stick like tentacles, we wrapped around each other. Ben chatted away. Something jumped out of the water and made a big splash just a few feet away, and he practically climbed up my body, convinced it was a leopard shark out for a tasty ankle snack.

Eventually we swam past the lone sailboat and climbed the sandy bank in the pitch black, beside the canoes, and up the roots of the giant stump. Colored light beams spun around from the wedding tent and beautiful shadow people danced in silhouette. In my dripping wetsuits we jumped and spun and laughed until we realized we were freezing.

One hot shower, three chapters of Dog Man & Cat Kid, and a mango popsicle (ok, two) later, we are ready for sleep.

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