Hmmmmm....... do I or don't I? I'm at the beach. Lake Michigan. My muscles are aching and cramped because I just rode a bike 2 miles to get there, which brings my bike riding total miles over the last three years to........2.

It was easy going for the first couple of blocks. I passed another rider as I was going down the hill towards the road that would lead me to the Lake. I smiled and nodded my head. He had a helmet......I felt naked. At least I wasn't huffing yet. That would come later.

Now, this road that goes to the beach meanders for about two miles before breaking into a stretch of beach grass and wind-blown, sand-covered asphalt that runs parallel to the beach by about thirty feet. Before arriving home (the Lake, as I like to refer to it), I rode through the remains of a thick forest. To my left, along the beach, are long gated driveways which stretch beyond my sight. On my right, smaller lots, smaller houses nestled into the woods forty or fifty feet back from the rode. Some of the driveways curved up to the top of a hill, or into a garage set into the hillside. I love those houses. There were more than a few I could see myself living at. A small yard, a heavy canopy of old oaks, a two-story house with a tire laying in front of the driveway (ok, maybe I wouldn't want that). Lots of windows from every angle casting natural light in every conceivable direction. Open windows of course, mostly for for the waves of cool lake air teasing my skin, but also for its howl rivaling the creaking windows of the house. The edge of destruction is always an interesting, lively place to be. My porch and windows would be covered with hanging plants and flowers, all-encompassing enough to effectively camouflage my pad from the road. Oh wait. Back to the wind for a second. Does its touch ever remind anyone else of a woman's lips brushing against your neck? Right on the sweet spot. The kind that makes you....... oh, never mind.

Anyway, back to the bike ride...... (music break - Jack Johnson Do You Remember - ridiculous guitar playing......Well I was crazy about you then....And now the craziest thing of all....Over ten years have gone by....And you're still mine....We're locked in time)..... By the time I had ridden a quarter mile my back was shooting burning bolts of pain through my spine, my legs were screaming at me, and my lungs didn't have the breath to catch up. Oh, and I had to try to look like I knew what I was doing as all the RVs were proceeding past me to the state park. I can just see the smart ass five year old asking, "mommy! Look at the fat guy! Why is his belly hanging over the bike seat? (giggle) Why is his face all red? Did he get sun poisoning? (no response) He sure rides his bike funny. It keeps wobbling back and forth! (more giggling)" I was dying. I hung a right on every side street so I could reattach my legs to my hips relatively inconspicuously.

Needless to say, when the first stretch of open beach came into view, I thought I had discovered America all over again. I trudge down to the lakefront, bike in tow, spread out my blanket.....and exhaled. I seriously considered taking off my shirt at that moment, determined as I was to reverse the gradual whit-ing of my skin (pink-ing is more like it). I decided against it, and instead pulled out a Grisham novel I pulled off my mom's bookshelf. It was either that or, what's her name? Joan Collins? Mom mom mom. We need to expand your literary horizons. I couldn't really read the Grisham novel either. the first paragraph was about a guy in a skyscraper in New York, which is about as appealing to me as introducing a girlfriend to OJ Simpson. I felt fortunate, at least, that I did not take off my shirt. In fact I felt rather omniscient considering that five toned, tanned, beautiful women ambled by about three feet from me five minutes after I arrived. They came in single file, each bobbing into view about five seconds after the other. I started wondering if the procession would ever end?

Ten minutes went by......

I got bored.....

So back to the original question: Should I or shouldn't I take a dip in the lake? In the end, my reluctance to show my body and my physical incapability of looking for another spot on the beach (besides the fact that it's just asinine) didn't stand a chance against the hypnotic pull of the water. So there it was. The shirt came off. I went in the water. I froze. WHOA! I have to admit, though, it was amazing to feel the wind again against my bare skin. I waded in up to my waist to try to get my lower half used to the cold. It wasn't too bad. And then I dived in. i can't even describe how incredible it felt. is life-affirming too strong a word? Exhilarating? I swam out to the sandbar and body surfed for awhile. I floated on my back for awhile, letting the waves carry me in the direction of, well, how could I know? I was looking up! There is just nothing in the world that comes close to jumping in a lake, or an ocean for that matter..... it embraces you so that you feel like an extension of the Earth....... and, well, it's just fun.

OK readers, thanks for checking me out. I wish you to be kissed by the wind tonight....