mikecat adjuster
Beach Fanatic
Trying to escape reailty today, I went out into the Gulf and reality fond me there, too 
Since the storm I've wanted so badly to explore what might have been uncovered, and generally, just to get out there again and feel the water around my body.
So this afternoon I ventured out to a spot where I'd found a reef. My honey hole. I hoped that some unusual shells had been deposited there. But, to my dismay, the reef was covered with sand. Previously I'd fond many unusual crabs, fish and an abundance of shells there. So I'm hoping that the reef either becomes uncovered again or other similiar reefs have been uncovered elsewhere.
But right now, even though the water has cleared, it is still not comparable to the snorkeling I was encontering previously to the storm. I'd hoped that in a few days the silty, sandy water would settle and clarity would regain its rightful place. But perhaps we need a North wind. I don't know what it will take. Maybe just some more time to settle. I did see some dolphin at the second sandbar but found no reason to swim out there due to the visibility.
I would head out into the woods where on recent brief trips I've encountered deer and snakes, but since I'll be on my feet all night, I think I'll settle into a boring existence for the remainder. I had a great invite for barbecue with friends in Destin today but wasn't up to it.
Maybe the Gulf will cheer me up before long.
Being in love with Nature has its benefits. The other day, while walking, I began to recite poetry with each step. It was beauitiful. Naturally, I don't remember the passages but they matched the poetic pace at which my feet traveled.
But, I feel more loved when I'm free diving. Being out in the Gulf this summer has made me less inclined to venture into the woods for my escapes. Its hard to explain the sensation of the Gulf water traveling across my skin. It soothes me. And the light and the way it penetrates downward, and downward, and downward... and the way I follow that light to what it shows below, pressed against the sandy white bottom. And the way I am met with a spectacle. Something new. Something exciting. Something alive.
All of this exists in my world, but it is like another world altogether. It is like I am being allowed viewage of something so special, so silent, salient and rare.
It is so close in proximity to beach goers, but I am one of the few who read its riddles. I follow each passage with an observant eye and when I dive down, I come closer to its real meaning. I uncover something about Nature and something about myself all in one swift motion.
And it treats me well. It never judges or speaks harshly to me. But it could. Danger does loom. I am prey to some extent. Prey to the currents, jelly fish or shark.
I had a friend who is very adventurous who would not come out there with me this summer because of the large amount of shark I was seeing. He said he would not be able to forgive himself if something happened to him out there. He said that he had too much to live for. Sometimes, when I was out there this summer, I thought to myself, "Do I have something to live for?" "Do I take too many risks out here?"
I wondered about people who scale mountainsides or who base jump from cliffs or skyscrapers. I've always heard others who postulated about the deeper meaning as to why these people do this sort of extreme thing. It makes me wonder about myself.
Of course, I am not comparing what I do to base jumpers. But I wonder. Although I practice what I consider safe measures, I do photograph posionous snakes at close range and I do swim with sharks. I do free dive down to depths that I sometimes barely make it back up from. And I do envision even greater adventures in my future.
Perhaps I am searching in the only place I know where I truly feel alive. Although with my kids I am in my truest Heaven, it sure feels peaceful in the blue depth below. There, I offend no one. I almost leave no mark as I travel. My movements displace water, but the water quickly recovers and travels back into its orginal place. I am a shadow moving through time. I am not only alive, but alive forever in those moments.
Like a babbling brook I ramble,
for I cannot swim today.
Like a horrid story teller,
Trying to recapture the waters way.
But until waters clear,
and light meets sand below,
Sadness prevails and strange wicked tales
are all that my mind it will know.
Since the storm I've wanted so badly to explore what might have been uncovered, and generally, just to get out there again and feel the water around my body. So this afternoon I ventured out to a spot where I'd found a reef. My honey hole. I hoped that some unusual shells had been deposited there. But, to my dismay, the reef was covered with sand. Previously I'd fond many unusual crabs, fish and an abundance of shells there. So I'm hoping that the reef either becomes uncovered again or other similiar reefs have been uncovered elsewhere.
But right now, even though the water has cleared, it is still not comparable to the snorkeling I was encontering previously to the storm. I'd hoped that in a few days the silty, sandy water would settle and clarity would regain its rightful place. But perhaps we need a North wind. I don't know what it will take. Maybe just some more time to settle. I did see some dolphin at the second sandbar but found no reason to swim out there due to the visibility.
I would head out into the woods where on recent brief trips I've encountered deer and snakes, but since I'll be on my feet all night, I think I'll settle into a boring existence for the remainder. I had a great invite for barbecue with friends in Destin today but wasn't up to it.
Maybe the Gulf will cheer me up before long.
Being in love with Nature has its benefits. The other day, while walking, I began to recite poetry with each step. It was beauitiful. Naturally, I don't remember the passages but they matched the poetic pace at which my feet traveled.But, I feel more loved when I'm free diving. Being out in the Gulf this summer has made me less inclined to venture into the woods for my escapes. Its hard to explain the sensation of the Gulf water traveling across my skin. It soothes me. And the light and the way it penetrates downward, and downward, and downward... and the way I follow that light to what it shows below, pressed against the sandy white bottom. And the way I am met with a spectacle. Something new. Something exciting. Something alive.
All of this exists in my world, but it is like another world altogether. It is like I am being allowed viewage of something so special, so silent, salient and rare.
It is so close in proximity to beach goers, but I am one of the few who read its riddles. I follow each passage with an observant eye and when I dive down, I come closer to its real meaning. I uncover something about Nature and something about myself all in one swift motion.
And it treats me well. It never judges or speaks harshly to me. But it could. Danger does loom. I am prey to some extent. Prey to the currents, jelly fish or shark.
I had a friend who is very adventurous who would not come out there with me this summer because of the large amount of shark I was seeing. He said he would not be able to forgive himself if something happened to him out there. He said that he had too much to live for. Sometimes, when I was out there this summer, I thought to myself, "Do I have something to live for?" "Do I take too many risks out here?"
I wondered about people who scale mountainsides or who base jump from cliffs or skyscrapers. I've always heard others who postulated about the deeper meaning as to why these people do this sort of extreme thing. It makes me wonder about myself.
Of course, I am not comparing what I do to base jumpers. But I wonder. Although I practice what I consider safe measures, I do photograph posionous snakes at close range and I do swim with sharks. I do free dive down to depths that I sometimes barely make it back up from. And I do envision even greater adventures in my future.
Perhaps I am searching in the only place I know where I truly feel alive. Although with my kids I am in my truest Heaven, it sure feels peaceful in the blue depth below. There, I offend no one. I almost leave no mark as I travel. My movements displace water, but the water quickly recovers and travels back into its orginal place. I am a shadow moving through time. I am not only alive, but alive forever in those moments.
Like a babbling brook I ramble,
for I cannot swim today.
Like a horrid story teller,
Trying to recapture the waters way.
But until waters clear,
and light meets sand below,
Sadness prevails and strange wicked tales
are all that my mind it will know.
