Shark attack
And she returns from the Florida Keys. Minimal sun damage and considerably bedded. Or something like that.
It wasn't until the car ride from the Keys to the airport that I got Family Flu and was ready to be away from the rents, and considering I was with them for 8 straight days that's not too damn shabby!
It was a wonderful trip. I slept til at least 10:30 every morning and drank enough beer and rum based fruity drinks to make any sailor jealous. But the best part of all - learning to snorkel.
We picked up grocery-store quality masks and snorkels at Winn-Dixie on Marathon K ey pretty much first thing. Becca and I were quite keen on practicing in the safety of our bathtub water pool and quickly caught on to the skill of blowing water out of your "wind pipe" after a surface dive. Jessica and Chad arrived a day later and we rented the good stuff from a local dive shop and by Wednesday, we decided it was time to try out the reef.
So we took a snorkel tour about seven miles off the coast out into open water (trying not to reference that horrifying movie) and took one giant step for any idiot into the middle of the ocean. It was so peaceful - like flying. Drifting with the ebb and flow of the minor swells and seeing the most amazing color menagerie of sea and plant life ever orchestrated.
I was six again - I wanted to touch everything.
And then I saw it - a pretty good sized fin hiding under a rock shelf. I waved franticly at my sisters and screamed, "SHARK" out of the water to get everyone to notice my new-found friend - a nurse shark. He was gorgeous and graceful. I was certain before I jumped in the water that if I saw anything comparable to my height with teeth, I would pass out and become its munchies. Much to my surprise I started to follow it and (what the hell?!) surface dive to swim right with it.
Yes, I am verifiably nuts.
It was so amazing. By this time, Becca was screaming at me, "What shark?! Do we need to get on the boat?!!!" Eventually we all did, only to all (except Becca and Mom) get insanely sea sick and lose our niblets all over Davy Jones' Locker. That's alright, the fish loved it. "Dirty scaventers" Captain "Scary" Jerry called them.
Twas an experience of a lifetime and what I once thought was my greatest fear is fast becoming a dream world to me. What an experience. I can't wait til I can afford to visit the reef again.
It wasn't until the car ride from the Keys to the airport that I got Family Flu and was ready to be away from the rents, and considering I was with them for 8 straight days that's not too damn shabby!
It was a wonderful trip. I slept til at least 10:30 every morning and drank enough beer and rum based fruity drinks to make any sailor jealous. But the best part of all - learning to snorkel.
We picked up grocery-store quality masks and snorkels at Winn-Dixie on Marathon K ey pretty much first thing. Becca and I were quite keen on practicing in the safety of our bathtub water pool and quickly caught on to the skill of blowing water out of your "wind pipe" after a surface dive. Jessica and Chad arrived a day later and we rented the good stuff from a local dive shop and by Wednesday, we decided it was time to try out the reef.
So we took a snorkel tour about seven miles off the coast out into open water (trying not to reference that horrifying movie) and took one giant step for any idiot into the middle of the ocean. It was so peaceful - like flying. Drifting with the ebb and flow of the minor swells and seeing the most amazing color menagerie of sea and plant life ever orchestrated.
I was six again - I wanted to touch everything.
And then I saw it - a pretty good sized fin hiding under a rock shelf. I waved franticly at my sisters and screamed, "SHARK" out of the water to get everyone to notice my new-found friend - a nurse shark. He was gorgeous and graceful. I was certain before I jumped in the water that if I saw anything comparable to my height with teeth, I would pass out and become its munchies. Much to my surprise I started to follow it and (what the hell?!) surface dive to swim right with it.
Yes, I am verifiably nuts.
It was so amazing. By this time, Becca was screaming at me, "What shark?! Do we need to get on the boat?!!!" Eventually we all did, only to all (except Becca and Mom) get insanely sea sick and lose our niblets all over Davy Jones' Locker. That's alright, the fish loved it. "Dirty scaventers" Captain "Scary" Jerry called them.
Twas an experience of a lifetime and what I once thought was my greatest fear is fast becoming a dream world to me. What an experience. I can't wait til I can afford to visit the reef again.
posted by the big E at
8:30 PM
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