It's December because the calendar says so. Otherwise it could have been a kind fall day by the gulf. Today, 80 degrees Fahrenheit, humidity moderate, in spineless breeze-- a slight chill greeted us as we went in the water, but we went in anyway. For a few minutes, we floated beneath the same sun. At one point, I felt a soft warm surface brush my side, but J. was nowhere near me. It must have been a big fish if it were a fish. Now I'm not so sure. We were far from the slow greying, suspended by the little ripples of our unyielding questions.