Nightswimming

It's as dark as it ever gets in LA. The cliff to our back helps block out most of the light from the city. Meanwhile the moonless night means that ocean is essentially black.

Except that it isn't. The tide is coming in, and every time a wave crashes on the shore it erupts in a bluish glow. We weren't expecting this to happen during our skinny dipping adventure, and we get scared that the water isn't safe to swim in. But a quick call to a local friend alleviates our worries.

We strip down and run out into the waves. Playing with the algae turns out to be lots of fun. Slow movements create amazing glowing wakes. Splashing excites them. One of the girls is a swimmer and is willing to go out a little deeper than the rest of us. We can see the glowing outline of her body as she swims around much better than we can see her. The wakes highlight our movements as we play in the water.

It isn't too long before our fear of being discovered drives us out of the water and back into our clothes. But we aren't ready to go home yet. Instead, we head to Irvine, where one friend grew up and still has access to the community hot tub.

Access is perhaps an exaggeration. The pool closed hours before we arrived. Not to be disappointed, we decide to scale the wall. We're still giddy from skinny dipping and breaking another rule seems like the thing to do. It isn't long before we're sitting in the hot tub, deciding it's time for another round of skinny dipping.

Not ten minutes after we'd stripped down, security shows up. The two officers kindly point out that we're not allowed to be there, given that we aren't residents and the pool is closed. They also show us the security camera, trained on the hot tub, which has captured our naked shenanigans. We get dressed as quickly as we can and flee to the car, more amused than embarrassed, glad to have a story to tell.