My snorkeling thingy-ma-jig kinda raggled as I breathed in and out. Water filled the bottom of my goggles as I peered down into the water for another look. There, down below me, swam the realization of little children's dreams, and the realization of my fanciful conversations- dolphins. A whole pack of them, weaving through the water in apparent bliss. Content. Happy. Dolphins. Doing what they do.
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| Whale fin thing. |
We had waited our turn to see them. Our boat, the Island Spirit, had sent its members over to go snorkeling in the reef while others, the ones that got there first, played with the dolphins. I found myself a volunteer aboard the ship by way of a curious and unlikely series of events, that sort of which I've become well acquainted.
At first I was told to stay up on deck, and count the numbers of clients in the water, and shout out the play-by-play in the captain's blind spots. But then once the dolphin time came, the crew member told me gear-up. Had I ever been snorkeling? No, I said. Had I ever been in deep water? No, I replied. A perfect noobie volunteer. I walked down the steps from the boat into the water with my floppy fins flailing about. And then I managed something quite out of the ordinary- a somewhat graceful dive. I thought of Meredith.
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| The Waianae coast, nobody told me it was beautiful, they warned me it was dangerous. Dangerous it was and beautiful it was. |
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The Kalo, Taro, leaf. According to Hawaiian
mythology the Taro plant is the first offspring of
Mother Earth and Father Sky. Man is the second. |
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| Sun down at the beach. On the windward side of the island you don't get to see it go down. |
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Right by this cove I stashed my stuff.
I locked it to a tree with a padlock and some rope. |
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| Swedish tourists look for mammals of the sea. |
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| Captain Steve, manning the Island Spirit. |
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| Whales spraying stuff. I'll probably know some cool facts by the time I'm done. |
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| Back at the boat harbor. |
