The thermometer behind the window is often suspicious. Whenever the sun shines directly on it, it can report temperatures of 20+ Celsius outside even in the middle of winter!
Our balcony however, seems to be right in the middle of a wind tunnel, when you step outside, make sure you hold on to something, to not have your pants blown away.
So we run outside and get a feel. It really is warm, when there is now wind around. We're going for a swim.
The cold water swimming season is still in full gear, as the cold weather with arctic breezes has yet to warm up the water, even in lakes.
Today is one of the best days recently, 8 degrees warm, we haven't had this kind of warm weather for weeks now... somehow the winter resurfaced.
I still grab my winter coat, it's warm and perfect for hanging out in your swimming trunks at the beach.
We head to Maidla lake, 20 something kilometers out of town. The place looks quiet, despite a number of cars around.
There's two families hanging around with their babies, there's a young couple sitting on a bridge in one corner, they seem to be fishing and there are some lads playing volleyball. Barefoot. There's almost no wind here, so i'd gladly kick my winter hat and gloves, but still feels a bit cold without them.
It's nice for a walk, we're not going swimming immediately, rather enjoying the nice early spring weather and quiet, circling around the lake.
I think there's a law requiring all public swimming sites to have an information board along with a life preserver.
The information board has instructions for using the life preserver, resuscitation as well as directions for who to call as well as general instructions on how to behave around the beach. But you lads and girls already know how to behave, right?
Walking around the lake, we managed to count at least 4 stationary grilling spots, all with tables and benches. We're lucky to have our country have take such care about spots for friends and families to hang out at. Not at the moment though - there's very few people around. We're still limited to 2 people max in a group or a family moving together. We fall into the latter group this time.
We head out to the highway behind the lake and decide to walk a bit further. Still so quiet here. A car or two pass, but the silence sets in again as the engines fade in the distance. We head to a nearby field, grab a photo of our shadows, and head back.
Didn't see any frogs that the sign alerts us about. We thought this would be a more of a late summer occurrence, being strangers with the migrating patterns of frogs and all. I have managed to witness this once, thousands of frogs jumping around in the forest around the lake, it was mesmerizing.
Back at the lake, we're on the wrong side though. The water looks darker here, I guess they have cleaned the beaches and water on the other side more, where people usually swim.
There are nice benches though here and there for the weary wanderer.
The rushes have made cool patterns in the shallow water here. I feel a sudden and an unexpected urge to throw myself in and kick those rushes around, destorying the patterns.
We're back at the floating bridge. Into the water, quick! The coldness of the water still bites and forces you to move around, but it's nowhere near the freezing temperatures. I guess it's 4-5 degrees Celsius, just a guess, my human thermometer skills are still lousy.
I go nowhere without my trusty friend, the rubber ducky. He paddles around in the shallow water, while I enjoy the deeper part. Ducky is still small, so let's not hold it against him.
Spiderman sends his regards!
