The Start of it
We are laughing and dancing and excited and also nervous. We are a handful of roller derby friends at the beach in October, getting ready to shed our outer layer of clothes and jump in.
The bluetooth speaker is perhaps a little loud for this beach and this crowd, but only one of us is aware of that. The others aren’t. It’s a normal volume of music for them.
“So, we’re doing this?” someone asks.
“Yes, we are doing this!” another replies.
And we do this. We stand at the waters edge, exchange sneaky smiles and pretend to stifle laughter, while holding our arms in a way that shows we are also trying to find some warmth. Some dance and wiggle, others stand still and ready. It’s October in Maine. It’s 2020. Everything feels uncertain.
Except for one who needs that ocean and is planning to go in until Halloween, and for another who is running for office and certain she will do what she can to get her seat at the table. Glances exchanged, smiles increase, and with a burst we explode into the water. Splashing, laughing, swearing, through the shock of that salty coldness. Some go as quick as possible for the thrill of the dunk, some go slower and then float and frolick about. All are trying to drink up the last bits of warmth before winter arrives at their doors, bringing more uncertainty and blurry days of cold.
Strangers pass, smiling, commenting, finding one of our phones and photographing us together in the water. Later, once we are out of the water, an older gentlemen asks us if we are part of the calendar girls. We have no idea what that is, so please tell us more, we urge. They are a group of women who get together every month, all year long, to jump in the ocean and then they eat cake after, he tells us. We take in his words for a brief second then eyes brighten and faces light up and words are exchanged about how we want to do that! We want to jump in the ocean then eat cake together! EVERY MONTH, all year round!
We are doing this, we declare. It’s a perfect Covid safe activity! Plus, cake by the ocean! How do we do this? What should our plan be?
Veteran’s Day is in November and the teachers in the group will have that day off. One has a birthday in December, then there’s New Year’s, and OH an inauguration also in January, another birthday in February, and another in March, and by April we will have gotten through winter and we’ll just find an excuse to have another beach dip dance party…
The plan is loosely set. We will dip every month all winter long. There will be cupcakes and warm pj’s after dipping, music before during and after, and something to look forward to each month!
It is in that moment this year-round quest for cold water and connection is born. And it has led me to more than I ever knew it could or would. And it feels like it’s just getting started. So, it’s time to start writing about it and documenting what I can.
