Hooray! Back from Thailand and India and showing us how it's done are Janet and Patti. How great to be swimming with them again.
Yeah, right - you haven't been swimming in 9 months! Way to make me feel bad! Not only did they swim the entire course, but they left me in their wake. They had already gotten dressed before I hit the beach on my return.
Looking for something to do on the beach this holiday weekend? How about traditional Hawaiian quilting?
These ladies took a free class at The Maui Quilt Shop and were happily sewing away when I passed them on my walk this morning. As vacationing beginners, they told me, you didn't have to make an entire bedspread. Instead you could create a single panel to be framed or to use as a pillow.
Or if you are feeling a little more laid back, you could always dangle your toes in the water. Mmmm. Sounds good.
When I was bitten by a 12 foot tiger shark a few years back, the hardest part of getting back in the water was overcoming the "yips." My solution was to concentrate on looking for other large underwater creatures. When killer sharks would enter my mind, I would concentrate on looking for sea turtles. That way when a dark shape would appear, my first thought would be of turtles, not sharks (yes, I can be pretty gullible).
Big south waves are still rolling in and the water continues being murkier than I am comfortable in. Two days ago when I started imagining big sharks while swimming, I began thinking of Manta Rays. Manta, manta, manta was my mantra. Within five minutes I encountered a Manta Ray and swam with it (click HERE for photos and story).
This morning when, once again, I became uncomfortable I started thinking of Eagle Rays. Not just one, I decided, but several. Within three minutes I swam over two Spotted Eagle Rays. I don't think they liked swimming in the murky water either because when I dove down to them, they panicked and scooted away. I looked for them but could not find them in the gloom. I swam away, then noticed one of them following me. I have never seen an eagle ray behave the way this one did, it swam up, down, and all around me. I'm guessing it liked my cologne but lost interest when it finally glimpsed my face.
Doug and I exchanged marriage vows before a small gathering of friends and family twenty years ago today. Then came the big wedding reception which cost us ten thousand dollars. I think our anniversary dinner tonight at the Four Seasons set us back nearly as much.
We had our struggles over the years and I don't know how many times I wanted desperately to call it quits. But we always worked out our conflicts and emerged stronger for the effort and dedication. Amazingly, somehow, it keeps getting better. Thanks for everything, partner.
The surf is still up on the south shores, and the water is still murkier than I prefer. Nonetheless, I dove under the breakers and managed a good ocean swim workout this morning.
I met this manta ray and hung with it for fifteen minutes while it was feeding. It hugged the ocean floor about twenty feet down and getting there was a struggle for me. I am horrible at holding my breath (my personal record is twenty seconds) so I was lucky to get one photo on each dive.
Underwater photography depends upon getting close, very close, to the subject; and when visibility is poor, even closer is better. Fortunately, this one didn't mind me being in hugging distance. Strange, how much manta rays look like sharks with wings.
