Heat warning

It's hot and smoky again in Vancouver, but John and I know how to cope with that. He interrupted his own swim to take this photo of me on Monday.

High tide at Spanish Banks late Monday afternoon, and the light was a surreal red-gold, warming the bodies, the sand, the bouncing waves. “A Mediterranean light,” said John, whose photographer’s eye is always noticing. On the way to the beach, he’d already pointed out the cause – a grey haze of wildfire smoke hovering against the North Shore mountains.

 It was the third hot day in the city, with temperatures at 30, an Environment Canada heat warning in effect, and a warm wind blowing off the water. Adding to the strange atmosphere, two ambulances, lights flashing, sirens blaring, raced past, and we could see the Coast Guard hovercraft, all noise and plumes of spray, heading in to the beach to meet them.

 Meanwhile, the volleyball players near us kicked up clouds of dusty sand. On the beach, a young woman wore a black bathing suit that could have been a figure-skating costume, all flared skirt, fitted waist and intricate back lacing. In the water, an older woman with thinning white hair floated on her back, flipped over, and dived right under like a kid.

 For the third day in a row, John and I stopped at the Dairy Queen after our swim. “Two small cones, one dipped?” asked the clerk.