a ride and swim outing 12 June 2023

its clearly winter, the mornings have a gentle nip and its definitely a good start if the fire is still alight when I go downstairs. 
the sky is crystal clear and crisp. the wind is absent though, so no sailing, the plan is to work hard at home until midday before throwing the bikes in the little car and heading off.
about 1pm we found ourselves right by the water at Halifax. a woman swimmer itteredcthe classic description of winter's swimming, "its cold at first but you get used to it". Huh, it so reminded me of my surfing days. she added that she enjoyed this time of year due to the lack of people, and although it was the first " King's Birthday Long Weekend " of my life, there were very few people about. 
We cycled somewhat uneventfully to tomaree headland, apart from Charlie's chain coming off and jamming and his continual protests about the effort required to pedal a bike. 
sadly there had been a horrific coach accident in the valley resulting in the deaths of ten individuals, and twenty five others being hospitalised. I'm certain I sensed a mood of sombreness about and a commitment to enjoying the precious gift of life. 
a swim as the sun dipped confirmed that it was cold and as the body numbed, one did get used to it. but the water was crystal clear and the half dozen people along the beach, no others swimming, were entertained by a four year old fishing with dad. his modest catch drew applause as his father took the classic snap for posterity. he was so tender in the world, that he commentated loudly at everything new he experienced which was a great antidote for people's grieving. 

Just for the record: in Australia; Cause.    Period.      Number.
heart dis.  daily          118
cancer      daily          136
MVAs.      weekly        23 
murder.    yearly.        250
 
NB: 82% by murders are by a person known to the victim. 

Media publicity is inversely proportional to the number of deaths per cause.

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