We had an exceptionally warm Columbus Day a few years back, after a rainy but mild fall - so far. Usually during the colder months, we'd take a ride to the shore, grab some lunch, and get some air and sunshine - just to break things up and see something other than wet leaves or snow. That Sunday was no different, and given the choice of Vermont or the shore, Suzy said the beach. So we packed everything from bathing suits to winter clothes, knowing that New England weather changes by the minute and headed out. The morning was warm, with very little wind and we were lucky enough to hit temps in the high 70's. We stripped down and laid out on a blanket to enjoy the sun and lasted until almost 2 p.m. when the clouds rolled in and the wind picked up. As the front moved through with some rain, we sat it out in the truck debating what to do - and decided on a restaurant for a mid afternoon meal. 99 did us right, and by the time we left, the sky had cleared, the temps had dropped a bit, and the wind had picked up. But, she insisted on going back to the beach for some more fresh air, and off we went, this time in jeans and turtleneck sweaters with plenty of blankets in addition to our cooler and radio.
We settled in on a dune and kicked back for some sun. At first, Suzy thought we were over dressed for what we were doing until she noticed the constant parade of beach walkers and what they were wearing. She settled back, less self-conscious and we enjoyed the day. By late afternoon, both of us restless, we walked the half mile or so to the remaining open bar for a couple beers, just making it in for a very early last-call. The bartender explained that during the off-season, they only open for a few hours and had limited stock - so we settled on his generosity of giving us 3 each before he closed out the register. While we started inside, we finished our drinks on a picnic table in the back of the now closed bar, right on the edge of the beach, with a full panoramic view in both directions. Plenty of people were still out and about, many with trouser legs rolled up, walking in the surf. As we began our journey back to our spot, and vehicle, she stopped, pulled up her jeans, said "Screw the sneakers" and started walking in the surf. "Come on" she said as I protested about getting my running shoes wet. "You've got dry ones in the truck" was her response followed by "I can't believe how warm the water is!"
With that, we walked holding hands, along the beach in the ankle deep water.
After about a hundred yards, with her on the ocean side of the beach, a pretty good sized wave came at us. She noticed it and tired to push/pull me up on the beach but it was too late. She got hit above the knees, soaking her pant legs and causing them to slip down. "Fuck" she said, and then remembered the extra clothes we had packed, both for the beach and in case we decided to stay over. "Oh well, we'll manage" I replied, and we walked along, only this time with less regard for where the waves were hitting or how big they were.
We passed our spot and continued on, both of us now wet to our knees. But we weren't alone, there were other couples pretty much doing the same thing, enjoying both the weather and the warm water.
Dusk came in and so did a full moon, lighting up the beach almost as bright as daytime, but with the faint orange glow of the setting autumn sun. A ways down the beach, dark objects seemed to appear in the ocean beyond the surf line. "Somebody's actually swimming" she said, as I squinted to make out what lay ahead. As we closed the distance, it became obvious that a family had decided to go for a dip, all of them fully or partially clothed in what they must have been wearing when they arrived. They were just gathering to leave as we closed with them. "How's the water?" we asked almost in unison. "Unbelievable" the mother replied. " Who the hell thought we'd be swimming on Columbus Day. It's warmer in there than out here!" as they bundled up and trudged off to the parking lot.
We made it to the end of the beach where a road cut it off, and turned around to head back. At first I didn't notice, but suddenly it seemed that she wasn't following the contour of the beach anymore, but just slogging on pretty much straight ahead. From shallow, to knee deep, on we went. We found a hole or depression, which as the water came up on our thighs, I mentioned was getting a little deeper. "Your jeans are already wet, what difference does it make" she replied. "None I guess" was my answer. A hundred yards later, I figured out that the tide was still receding, and we hit a flat spot where it was uniformly deep, just below our knees. By now, we were 50 or more feet from the dry beach, and still marching on in a straight line, holding hands and laughing, every once in a while taking note of the water, it's depth, or an incoming wave.
Then it happened - the approaching nightfall made it hard to really see the depth of the water, and we weren't paying attention too well either. 50 or more feet off shore there was a bit of a drop off, which she hit without even anticipating it. Up to her waist, she pulled at my arm to recover herself, and just as she was stepping back up, a pretty good wave hit us both, soaking us to the waist and above. "Shit" she said, the bottom of my sweater and my sleeve are wet now. "How far is the truck?" I replied, "only a couple hundred yards, and I'm as wet as you - thanks!" "Don't mention it dickhead" she said. I looked at her and said "That wasn't very nice!" Her reply was "So do something about it." and I knew the game was on. Hand to hand, palm to palm, with our fingers interlocked, I told her "You're going for a swim bitch" and as she resisted, kept repeating "Oh no I'm not". But she was and she knew it! As I pushed, she slowly lost ground, back to the sea, as she feigned resistance and smiled, twisted, turned, and "tried" to escape. And back she went - until she was waist deep, then over her waist, up to her armpits, constantly telling me "Oh no, you're not getting me to go for a swim dressed like this!" as I smiled and nodded my head up and down. Back, in armpit deep water, slightly less on me as I'm taller, until she said "Ok, good, you got me wet, enough!" As I released her hands, she turned and jumped into the next incoming wave. She surfaced nearby in the armpit deep water, pulled back her hair, rolled up the cuffs of her dark green turtleneck sweater revealing the white of the cotton turtleneck underneath, and then did the same at her neck, showing the layers she was wearing. "Are you going to just stand there, or are we going for a swim?" she asked. So I dove into the wave and popped up beside her. We didn't swim much, but we bobbed, stroked, laughed and bounced our way through the water along the beach toward our spot. From waist deep to chin deep, we kept going, laughing all the way until we found our chairs and cooler. We hugged and kissed and floated around in our clothes opposite our site for a few minutes before slogging up onto the beach.
"That was fun" she said to me as I smiled. Not the bit chilled, we went up to our blankets and laid down, wrapping up in one of them. We kicked back and relaxed with a cigarette until we heard a vehicle park close by. Within a minute, 2 middle aged women. maybe in their early 40's passed by us. We exchanged greetings and comments about the nice weather and the full moon. Both headed straight for the water, and as they approached, took off their shoes and held them in their hands. Gingerly taking a few steps in, they bent at the knee and dipped their fingers into the surf. We could hear their comments about how warm it was. Moments later, they walked back to us, and asked if we were going to be there for a while. I responded that we would, for a little while anyway, and the dark haired one asked if we'd keep track of their shoes since they wanted to get their feet wet. "Of course" I said, and anything else you don't want to get wet. As the shoes hit the sand, the other woman, with dirty blonde hair started emptying her pockets and then took off her corduroy blazer she was wearing over a rust colored turtleneck and neatly placed everything with her shoes. "Oh come on Tina" said the dark haired one. "Just in case" was the reply. "You should too, just in case of a wave". The dark haired woman looked at her and then at herself. Wearing black jeans and a fishermans' sweater she said "Do I look like I'm going swimming?" To which Tina replied "No, you're not drunk, so probably not" and they laughed to each other like it was an inside joke.
They excused themselves and said that time was wasting, rolled up their jeans and headed to the surf. We lay there and watched them flirt with the waves, getting their feet wet and sometimes kicking water at each other or stomping and splashing near each other, laughing and shreiking like a couple of kids.
Suzy looked at me and said "Lets shock them, I'm ready" "Okay, I guess so" I replied. At that we unwrapped from our blanket, straightened our now somewhat less-wet clothes, and headed toward them. We joined them and asked "Can we play too?" and Tina just laughed and kicked water at us. So we did the same, doubting for a while that they noticed our dampness. A few minutes of this, and both women were now in jeans wet to the knee. Suzy just looked at me and said "Swim time" then looked at both of them and said "Fuck it, I need to swim" and walked off into the waves with me closely behind. Waist deep, she turned back to both women who had now obviously given up on keeping their jeans dry and said "The waters warm". We turned our backs to the sea and deeper we went, up to our armpits when we stopped, noticing both looking at us and slowly moving further out. We had our arms wrapped around each other when both of them began to run and splashed through the first wave, shrieking and screaming, then giggling, they made their way out to us. "You two are crazy" they said. And I looked at them both and replied "So says the fully dressed women who came out to point that out!" They both laughed and we all bobbed around with each passing wave.
We spent the next half hour in and out of the water, diving through waves, running out, then back in, and splashing each other whenever we were close enough.
Finally, we all had enough and got out, headed to our blankets sopping wet, laughing our asses off. Between the four of us, we came up with enough towels to dry off, and to sit on in our vehicles. We parted company laughing about how much fun we had with our crazy stunts and they agreed that swimming in their clothes once in a while was good for the psyche. Tina said it just made her horny. And Suzy proved that it made HER horny, long before we even changed and left the parking lot.
EPILOGUE: The following year it SNOWED on Columbus Day!