Paddling into the eerie and saddening haze trying to wrap my head around how it traversed 3,000mi from the west coast fires, I shook off the lingering fatigue from the seasonal chronic Lyme disease flare-up. It took a lot for me to make it this far this morning. But determination carried me the rest of the way. The water beckoned summer while the air screamed fall as the waves promised joy. It wouldn’t take long for the smile to emerge from its prior days hiding. After a few fun rides, I sat a little taller eyeing my dolphin companions approaching. As their arched backs happily frolicked, the smile radiated further. A giddy shriek as one swam beneath my board narrowly missing a pet from my foot. A few hours later the familiar fatigue was too great to ignore and I bid my expansive oceanic playground adieu. Until tomorrow my friends.