white_hart

The water is starting to cool down now; the Thames is around 13.5 degrees, the Cherwell slightly colder. I've been wearing neoprene gloves and socks for the last couple of weeks, but a swimsuit is still fine, and I'm staying in for 20-25 minutes each time. I'm glad of my dryrobe and wool clothes afterwards, even though the weather is still quite mild, with temperatures in the mid or even high teens.

There hasn't been much rain lately, so the flow is still fairly low. Today I swam round the island for what might be the last time until spring; downstream first, in the main channel, then back upstream round the back, where there was almost no current at all and the water was full of fallen leaves. The late-afternoon sunlight was glorious on the water and the gradually-turning leaves.

My swims are still the high points of my week. I'm also starting to miss my lockdown morning walks (I still get the same amount of walking each day, or maybe even more, but it's generally through streets and the Parks and not out in the country), though not enough to want to work from home again, even occasionally.