Having lived by the sea for two decades, I can’t believe I’ve never swam in it,
and while it’s true that it is the North Sea, that’s still a poor excuse on my part,
since the locals have no problem with it, even in January—though, to be fair,
not without a wetsuit then. But perhaps more than the temperature of the water,
it’s the starkness of my exposed inadequacy that scares me. After all, I’m nothing
but the sum of past abasements.