A water baby -  I love water. Something about being completely submerged in a large body of H2O rejuvenates me. In summer I try and just be in water and in winter I will take long hot baths, just to disengaged from everything for a while. Apart from the per chemistry of 60% of me actually being water - water gives me life. My parents associated me with water even before I was born - having met scuba diving, when my mother found out she was pregnant, she called me "Ting Hou" or "Goddess of the Ocean", and insisted that my name had the initials "T.H.".

I grew up around the ocean, and when I was small we had a sail boat and would explore the beaches, islands and coves around the South China Sea. At one point we lived less than a three minute walk from one of Hong Kong's largest beaches and I could spend hours dipping in and out of the water. There is a mystic about the ocean that lakes and rivers (no matter how high or fast) can match and nothing is nicer than falling asleep to the sounds of waves lapping a beach, or waking to the sound of storm crashes.

And now I live in land-locked Ontario ....

Late last night, after an evening rowing on the Ottawa river, I was biking home along the Rideau river. Zipping along in the almost darkness with the dampness in the air, brought on by sunset and the proximity to the river and the smell was fresh and sweet. There is something about the wonderful smell around lakes and rivers, the dampness in the air. The river was calm - mirror flat with only small ripples from where fish were coming up to feast on bugs. There was a stillness. I have learned to love fresh-water.

Ottawa is surrounded by lakes and rivers and many of them are swimable. On a hot summer Sunday morning, I can hop on my bike and be at the secret swimming spot in ten minutes. Here I leisurely drift around in the cool water for an hour either alone or with a friend. A short 45 minutes hike leads me to Meech lake, where there is a bench to watch the world go by and a wonderful sandy spot to enter the kale. There is something wonderful and refreshing about a quick dip in the cool and clear water around here and there is something even better about being able to get on a bike or hike home, without the stickiness of salt drying on my skin.

But I still prefer the ocean.