Evanston, July 20

The southwest wind today did not seem so strong and the lake did not seem so wavy near the beach. But as we swam the waves got bigger, especially in the shallow water near the far wall. We decided to stay out of the breakzone and swim further out on the way back, but this was probably a bad choice. We fought 2-3 foot waves all the way back and the last leg, towards the beach, was directly into the wind and sideways to the waves. This was not so bad for me, a right breather, but Mike is a lefty so got the waves in his face. I had a bad goggle day and had to rely on Mike to lead me, even though he was also having trouble. The water was 77 and the air was very hot, muggy and uncomfortable. We kept cool by looking for a bracelet a woman wearing an age inappropriate bikini, but looking OK in it, had dropped in the swim area. But the current must have swept it away. A rather inefficient lifeguard crew let us stay as long as we wanted.

On a related topic, President Bush nominated John Roberts Jr. to the Supreme Court last night. Roberts Jr. is, of course, the infamous "fry nazi" judge, jailing a 12 year old girl for eating one french fry. The girl complained that this punishment violated the "cruel and unusual punishment" clause of the constitution to which we imagine Roberts Jr. replying "the sign did not say 'one fry', it said 'no fries' so off to jail with you, young lady. The implications are ominous for our beach.