Views While Skin Diving

            Several feet under the silver troughs and the folly of bubbles from each stoke and kick, are the rhythmic ranges of sand on the bottom of the Atlantic.  Each peaked summit of sand is followed by a sharp ravine; valleys that occasionally trap and contain the leftover trinkets of mollusks, crustaceans, and stinging celled coelenterates.

            I take a deep breath, tuck, and submerge with a push.  As I reach out with my hand, that suddenly is magnified through my mask to a seemingly colossal perspective, I carefully collect each specimen; marveling at their shapes and textures.  Some are rough or ribbed on the exterior, yet all are smooth and lustrous on the inside housing of what once held a soft bodied creature.

            In the deeper water I hang suspended upside down with my toes rippling the surface as I nose from ridge to ridge.  The currents seen as waves above pulse and surge against me, sometimes capsizing me in an underwater flip.  As the momentary thought of weightlessness crosses my mind, I manage a smile despite the fact that I am clutching the snorkel in my mouth and teeth.  The water is more tranquil than yesterday’s crashing waves, but you can still feel its collective strength in the ocean’s ebb and flow.

            When I surface, I use the remaining air in my lungs to force the seawater in my tube snorkel up and out through its orange tipped end.  Salt from the water hangs on my tongue and down into my throat; it’s a strong taste and it’s inevitable.  Some water remains within the u-shaped section of the snorkel.  It creates a gurgling sound to my raspy gasps for breath.  I am very much alive, however, as my reverberated sounds of breath and movement meld into the dancing lances of filtered light.  It is through these forested, yellow spears that I again take a deep breath and dive amongst them, allowing the fronds of light and engulfing water to swallow me whole.  Skin diving off the shore of the Atlantic grants me this otherwise unbeknownst opportunity and view.

            See you along The Way…

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A CELEBRATION OF OUR 30 YEAR ANNIVERSARY

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Just In Time

            Half the fun, or half the issue, is what to title a blog post once it’s written.  Sometimes you want the title to describe and capture the event itself.  Sometimes you want it to capture the feelings and details that lead up to the adventure.  More often than not, I like to label a written post with a catchy little phrase that uses a play on words; either from a double meaning, a twist on a familiar saying, or a descriptive expression that gives the reader a sneak peak of what’s to come within the blog.

            After I prepared supplies and gear both last night and early this morning, the Gulo Adventure Clan headed out for an excursion.  We wanted an early start, but we also wanted to race the decline in weather conditions that was set to hit in the afternoon.  The group of teachers who gathered all have ties to our school district.  Titles to what I would call the blog that would follow this outing began swirling around in my head as we packed up. 

            Titles that probably would have fit our excursion as we headed out in three separate vehicles could have been, On The Road Again, Reunited, Day Trippin’, Racing The Storm, Last Chance Winter Get-A-Way, or Putting The Adventure On Ice.

            After a short drive North, we arrived at our destination where the title could have changed to, Slip Sliding Away, Ice Cake Wars, Walking On Water, Twenty Feet Deep & Sixteen Inches Thick, On The Outskirts Of Shanty Town, or Off The Water And Into The Thicket.

            As we led the newbies into the unknown brambles, the title to this blog could have been, Nobody’s Fool, Circle The Wagons, Land Of The Lost,  Dot Dot Dot-Dash Dash Dash-Dot Dot Dot, Fool Me Twice Shame On Me, or Déjà vu All Over Again.

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            Once on track in a round trip tour towards a back country pond, the blog might have been called, Duck And Dodge-Zig And Zag, Follow Your Inner Compass, Snow Swampin’, True Blue Grit, March Of The Marsh Fellows, or Destination Known.

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            The wind had picked up slightly, but otherwise the weather was holding out as we set up camp and prepared to cook ourselves a brunch.  The titles to the blog at this point could have been labeled, It Begins With A Spark, You Don’t Have To Ask Me Twice To Eat, It’s Still On Fire, That Skillet’s Gonna Have History, Silence Speaks For The Food, or Stories Over Cocoa.

            Repacking the gear, we then lashed it to our sled, and began hiking back out to our vehicles.  The blog titles at this segment might have been A Traditional Pic, Content Dawgs And A Pup, Lake Trekking, What Are Those Guys Up To?, Finger Tip To Elbow, or Until Next Time.

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            Now home, cleaned up, and beside a crackling fire, it’s time to settle on what will officially become the title to this blog.  Ironically I have now created a host of new titles that can be used in the future.  Presently it’s raining down at about a 60 degree angle.  We still have a decent amount of snow on the ground (especially in the woods), but with temperatures hanging around in the mid to upper 30’s, it’s rain right now instead of snow that could come later.  The wind is what shoots the rain out to almost a 45 degree angle when it gusts from the mid 20’s to almost 40 miles an hour.  It’s just plain nasty out as winter storm “Taylor” races eastward in its unique S-shape pattern, fortunately it’s toasty next to the fire this afternoon.  Whew!  We got in today’s adventure Just In Time!

            See you along The Way…

A Tired Pup!

Now A Nasty, Rainy Day

The S-shaped Storm Named "Taylor"

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