I want to share this photo I took this morning at the beach after I'd finished my book reading. These three men are part of a small group of very sturdy men and women who venture into the sea each and every day at dawn at Shaw's Cove in Laguna Beach. There are usually about six to twelve in the group, though in winter the cohort often diminishes to just two or three and sometimes even just one. It's the one that really impresses me. As the one still makes his or her way far out beyond the rocks, way out, to where the big fish swim, to then pound through the cold, rough waters a mile up the or down the coast. I always watch and admire this group. They are something of heroes to me. What follows is an except from my book Going Alone. It's a short passage about these same ocean swimmers, and in particular that one who has the nerve and willingness to Go Alone during this single brief life we each get to live: "Emily and I lingered at the beach tonight until it was nearly dark. Just before we left, a middle-aged man arrived limping badly and wearing nothing more than a swimsuit and a beach towel around his neck. He deposited the towel on a rock and limped with difficulty straight into the sea. Once in the cold water—and free of his bad leg—he began swimming powerfully out to sea, diving under a few large waves before making it clear of the surf. We watched him swim straight and direct, further and further, as the night got darker and darker. We saw him swim past a family of dolphin passing far beyond the last rocks, in water more than fifty feet deep. The man never veered his course or turned either up or down the coast, but kept straight for open ocean, swimming hard and fast. He must have been more than a quarter mile out when darkness overtook our efforts to follow. My last sight of the man was a single swing of his arm rising above the now black sea. I noticed the street lights were on as Emily and I made our way back to the motorcycle—and I wondered if these would guide the man back to shore when he’d had enough of his solo nighttime winter ocean swim." -Going Alone