An early start to Christmas Day, to get down to the Exe in time for this morning's extra special parkrun. Being tired from yesterday's run, starting much further down the field than normal, and being hindered by a santa hat, I cruised it and finished in a whisker 21:06. After a quick pause for tea, we jumped in the Land Rover with the dogs and headed down to Exmouth in convoy with D's dad to take part in the alternative sea swim at the east end of the beach.
What people — crazy, masochistic people! — do in Devon on Christmas Day. For the record, the odd-looking bump on my side in this photo is actually just my tenth rib sticking out because I'm standing slightly hunched over and not the crazy alien mutation it looks like!
Despite leaving plenty of time to get from Exeter, we hit traffic just as we entered Exmouth, where the main beach was heaving with people. Although some of them had clearly been in the water, far more of them were dressed for winter and clearly only there to watch. Fortunately as a we reached the right part of the beach, we spotted someone in a very 1900s bathing suit who told us that not only were we in the right place but we even had a few minutes in hand before the big event.
Leaving shoes and bags in the car, I gave D's dad my camera and we hit the beach. Needless to say, Blitz immediately started digging in the sand and Dash, after getting a few cues, immediately started to emulate him. We stood around for a few photos to document the occasion, including this one taken by a passer by who offered to snap us all in our pre-swim power poses!
Notice the bulky sweatshirts we're all wearing...
In no time, we'd stripped down to swim gear and were running for the water. I ran far enough out to be able to manage a little bit of a swim; not much more than a handful of kicks and a couple of arm strokes, but enough to satisfy the letter of challenge. Almost as soon as a I'd got my shoulders under — following coaching from R, who is a keen sea swimmer, I went with a power scream to combat the cold — I realised the water was very chilly indeed and devoted myself to getting out of the water again as quickly as humanly possible.
P, Blitz, D, Dasher, and Yours Truly standing — although not in Dash's case — ankle deep in the rather chilly sea as proof that we've actually been in the water. In my case, I'd even gone far enough to get my head under; an experience which was nothing at all like that of swimming in the sea in Greece!
Once I was out of the water, I found the beach transformed. The temperature of the sand and that of the air, both of which had previously felt rather nippy, felt like they had suddenly risen. I somehow failed to realise I was standing around in a windy beach in December in a pair of swimming trunks until P gave me a towel, pointing out that I was shivering.
Sorting ourselves out, we got back in the Land Rover, P cranked the heater, and we powered back to Exeter in time for quick showers before P's sister and her family arrived.
P walking from the car to the house...
... D and Blitz posing for a photo on the path.
The afternoon unfolded in leisurely fashion — although not so much for P, slaving away in the kitchen — with various interruptions for dog walking. Lunch was spectacular with huge heaped plates: they were so large that only D's dad and the three of us who'd spent our mornings running and swimming, managed to eat everything.
Dash was well behaved, but Blitzen managed to open and eat a number of things he shouldn't have. Consequently, on his second or third afternoon walk, he wasn't anything like his usual happy self. He was so subdued that he didn't even try to pull me along, but just paced along the river wall with his tail between his legs.
Once everyone else had called it a day, the dogs got to open their presents. Having already demonstrated his ability to open packages, Blitzen made short work of opening his little reindeer toy even while Dasher was still trying to work out quite what to do with her parcel:
Blitz looks soulful while a frenzied Dasher tries to get the last of the wrapping paper off her toy.
Dasher looking very cute with a bit of wrapping paper in her mouth!
Eventually, with the day almost over and P&D and the dogs getting tired, I walked back home through town, taking a couple of photos as I did so.
The west front of Exeter Cathedral.
Greenery in Catherine Street.
The big Christmas tree in Princesshay. This may yet prove to be an expensive photo: while I was taking it I managed to invert my camera bag, causing my distance lens to spill out onto the ground! There were no obvious signs of damage when I carried out a quick visual inspection but there may yet be unseen damage; only time and a test with the camera body will tell. I think I'll wait until after Christmas to try because I don't need it and I don't want to put a dampener on proceedings.
Arriving home, I phoned my parents and said happy Christmas to my grandmother. The conversation unfolded exactly as predicted by my dad: she'd complain that she couldn't hear me, she'd pass the phone back, he'd tell her what to say, she'd say it, and then repeat that she couldn't hear anything, at which point the phone would be passed back once and for all.
It sounds like everyone back in Coventry had a nice Christmas, making me feel slightly better about my decision to stay down here for once.
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