What is referred to in English as « small talk » (an expression I really like)  is not my forte, but at Tahuna (Nelson beach), I surprise myself engaging  in it without the pain I tend to feel in such occasions when I  bump into  more and more bathers (99.5% of whom are women) who tend to extend their usual swimming season during the winter months. We share our knowledge about the water temperature, warmer or colder today than yesterday, warmer or colder this year than last year, warmer or colder at high or low tide, its quality (better in winter, less good after rain), whether the said bather dips her head in the water or not, whether she comes every day regardless of the temperature or not, the difference that the sun makes when one is in cold water or when one gets out of the water, how one swims, towards the horizon if one is a good swimmer (not me) or if one swims parallel to the shore, particularly if one is alone. All that small talk suits me.