When you need a swim

This weekend, our morning walk took us downtown along the Waterfront and then along the Eastbank Esplanade. It was a beautiful morning. As we're walking, I look down at the river and see a small, empty dock. I wonder to myself whether people have to pay to dock there - it's so small, it looks as if it could only fit a few boats. As I'm contemplating the possibility of the dock's users, I notice a man standing on it, facing the river. Is he fishing? No, there's no telltale paraphernalia of that. He almost looked like one of the walkers or runners that occupy this route. Lost in contemplation, I witness the man strip off his t-shirt. Then his shorts. His tighty-whities came off next and then he dove into the Willamette River with nothing more than what God gave him. What??? Did I really just see that? I stopped walking and saw the man come up from his dive and bob around in the water. I just turned and kept walking, laughing to myself. Who does that? In a lake, sure. In the Columbia, maybe. But in the Willamette? That certainly wouldn't be my first choice, but I guess if you need to cool off while running, or if you're homeless and need to bathe, it's there for the taking. Or maybe he was a nudist.

Yikes.


No, I didn't take a picture of him, but I did take some pictures on that walk...