TAKE TIME TO SAVOR LIFE'S TREATS
A blazing summer day in Santa Monica, a house with a pool, an adult party, and a thirteen-year-old boy at loose ends, that’s how I first went diving. I was at the bottom of the pool on a J-valve tank, with a twin hose reg that I figured out poolside, when adults started jumping into the water to ‘rescue’ me. More than forty years and 2000 dives later, I found a very differ- ent sort of rescue that has revitalized my love of blowing bubbles. I officially learned to dive while an undergraduate and went through the ranks to OWSI at the PADI College in Sydney, Australia. I worked as an instructor in Australia, then returned home to the USA and became a marine biologist. Along the way, there
have been many important dives. But those dives pale in significance to the life changes. I married in Belize. Sharalyn and I had two children, and we moved to a small island north of Seattle to a marine station. A little moment, a shared sense of wonder, and an instant rapport gave me an unusual opportunity to get a completely new and wholly transfor- mative view of diving. With my good friend Dr. Bob Rubin, I voyaged on the Quino El Guardian to the manta ray soup of the Revillagigedo Islands. They dropped us and 14 other dive fanatics into the water surrounding four little volcanic specks. Steep-sided, battered by swell, with a constant current, this dive site was not for the faint of heart.
But when we dropped over the side the first time, there was a whale shark, six giant ocean mantas, a pod of dol- phins, and more than 40 silky sharks, and you get the idea. It was SCUBA paradise. I loved it, and I was getting interesting data on wing movements in the mantas. As I stripped out of my too-thin wet suit, I realized the guy standing next to me had paused, a silly grin on his face, wet- suit around his ankles and heel straps between his toes, eyes twinkling away. This bearded, blissed-out guy was just dumbstruck by that dive and took a few moments to let it sink in. I don’t meet many people who take time to savor life’s treats as much as I do, and I was immediately drawn to this char-
28
www.familydivers.com 803-419-2556 dive@familydivers.com
www.oceanwishes.org
Made with FlippingBook interactive PDF creator