The common refrain these days is the water’s beautiful, but it is a bit chilly when you get out.  Then someone laughs and says well, you just need to stay in the water longer. And someone else adds, yes, that’ll work until around November.

The water we’re all talking about is the water at Walden Pond. On a mid-summer’s day, when the air temperature ranges into the 80s and the water temperature approaches that, it’s home to hundreds, families and singles, young and old, loungers and swimmers. But in the early days of spring and late days of September on into October, the Ponders – as those who have adopted Walden as a second home are called – take over once again.

Some in wetsuits, some in partial wetsuits, some still only in swim trunks. The water temperature is still quite comfortable, hovering in the low 70s, but we all know that the overnight readings in the 50s (and sometimes in the high 40s) are a harbinger of chillier waters to come.

That’s okay. We’ll take what we have now and be grateful for the wonderful season it has been and the days still ahead. Yes, someone says, and I think there’s another warm spell coming next week. Maybe some rain around mid-week, another person adds. And then, almost in unison, we all nod and agree that we sure could use the rain.

For most non-wetsuit swimmers, the season will end around October 15, maybe the 20th or so for some hardier souls. The real Ponders will take over at that point, and they’ll keep going into November, December and on throughout the colder winter months, sometimes breaking the ice if they have to in order to get in their strokes.

And when they emerge, they’ll just chip the ice from their goggles, turn to one another and say, boy, the water’s beautiful, but it is a bit chilly when you get out!