People often wrap themselves in a hug and shiver when I tell them I swim in the San Francisco Bay without a wetsuit in winter. Yes, it’s cold, but that’s the pleasure of it—my mood rises as the temperature drops.

Next they shudder about the water quality. “Isn’t the Bay dirty?” they ask.  

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Susan Kuramoto Moffat has written for the Los Angeles Times, The Wall Street Journal, the Associated Press, and Estuary News from places including Tokyo, Seoul, Southern California, and San Francisco Bay Area. She is working on a book about urban wilds.