It is probably still a touch too cold for a proper swim--and windy--yet the sun and bright green of the trees beckon you outside.  You will just go and check the water, just dip your hand in and feel if it is warm enough, you tell yourself, even as you put on your bathing suit and gather a towel.  You've made up your mind without quite knowing when that happened.

Outside you are seduced by the turquoise of the water, reminiscent of one of those tropical beaches you've read about in magazines.  No one is around but you.  You slip off your flip flops and sundress.  You enjoy the sun's caress on your back.  For a brief moment you feel terribly naked, your skin unaccustomed to the elements after a long winter buried under sweaters and scarves and mittens.  It is hypersensitive as if you've peeled back all your layers of skin until you are left with a newer, more tender shell.

Yet the water still calls to you.  Gingerly, you place one foot then another into the water, feeling a thrill run through you.  It laps around your toes, egging you on.  You let your legs dangle over the sides of the pool, enjoying the cool water on your skin, a sharp contrast to the warm sun on your back. 

You've reached the point of no return--there is nothing to do now but slip into the water's embrace.  You go under, letting the cool water embrace you, then break to the surface again.  You gasp and wipe the water from your face, then plunge headlong into a series of breaststrokes, enjoying how this liquid silk flows over and under your body. 

The breeze races across the water, raising goosebumps on your arms. Too soon to take the plunge?  Perhaps, but oh so worth it.