Warmer Day, Cooler Pond

The sun was visible and its rays warm again Tuesday for half the day before clouds moved in once more. After work, I took a nap and then made the decision to go back to the pond instead of making the long journey to DSU. That way I could get more walls-free swimming and get home earlier. I had papers to grade, not to mention the gas it saved me.

According to my thermometer, the water temp had dropped several degrees although the night time low was in the mid-fifties and the daytime high was in the mid-seventies. Dude, how does that happen?

In the past, I have been in the pond when it cooled on a warm, sunny day. Twice. Not too long ago I wrote about that. When this happened before, I finally figured after much thought that a cooling pond on a day when the weather should be causing it to warm was caused by up-welling. Specifically, this up-welling, which happens anytime there is wind, cools the pond when the winds are out of the north due to the shorter distance between the levees. The ponds are longer, west to east, than they are north to south. Thus the up-welling occurs at a rate faster than the sun and air can warm the surface water before it is once more forced under to lose its heat.

Clear as mud?

What made Tuesday's experience so shocking to me was the fact that the wind was and had been blowing straight out of the west. In the past this has always meant a warming pond with a cool end and a warm end. Tuesday was different. So that is what I thought about as I wading in and began stroking away.

I figured it out. I think. Although I don't have numbers, the wind was stronger than normal the last two days. There is a lot of cold water down there and with the strong winds, the up-welling must have overwhelmed the warming action of the sun and air. Who knew? I wonder if I can get a PhD in catfish pond water temps?

I had no real plan when I started swimming, only to listen to my body and maybe go a little farther than Monday. I felt really good, better than yesterday and swam 3.4 miles straight. I could have gone farther, but I thought I should be a little less reckless than I was last year when I pushed too hard too early. After the swim I went for a 6.22 miles shuffle. Ducks rose from ponds I ran by, and I thanked God for being allowed to witness their beauty. I had a nice day and one that gave my confidence a needed boost.