MY SUMMER AT THE BEACH

I love going to the beach, especially to swim, and in Vancouver you have a good choice of where to spend those hot summer days.  My favorite place to swim is the Second Beach pool.  To get there I enjoy a cool, scenic stroll along Lost Lagoon.  The pool, which is right on the beach, is heated, and I usually go there because the sea water is often too cold. 

Whenever I go, which is usually mid afternoon on, I take along a picnic lunch for myself and once I've finished swimming, I head over to the picnic tables overlooking the beach and the entrance to English Bay.

 Then I often take the long walk on the sea wall to the English Bay beach to get my bus home.  One day I decided to stay at English Bay to watch the sunset.  That turned into an excellent outing as there were hundreds of people on the beach waiting for the moment when the sun dips below the horizon.  Then they all cheer and clap. It was like watching a show!
There's a pool nearer to where I live too, and I often ride my bike over there.  New Brighton park and pool is right behind Hastings Park racetrack, and is situated on Burrard Inlet.  The pool isn't as nice as Second Beach and it's usually full of kids leaping in and out of the water, whereas at Second Beach pool there are a lot of family groups in the water with their kids, plus the slides that the children enjoy so much.  But the walk (or cycle) around the park way afterwards is pleasant and you always see the big freighters nearby at the docks.

This summer I didn't go into the ocean to swim as often as I sometimes do.  But one day last week, when it was very hot, I decided to make a day of it at Jericho Beach, one of the nicest sandy beaches in Vancouver.  As usual I took along a picnic lunch although there's a concession there.  Surprisingly the water was pleasantly refreshing and I had two good swims.  I noticed a great many other 'seniors' in swimming too and that day the beach was crowded with people having fun in the sun.
So now the summer seems to have ended and my swimming days are over until the indoor pool opens again where I go for waterfit.  But it was an excellent summer and I took advantage of every hot, sunny day to enjoy the outdoors.