Do and Go and See NOW

Crazy day. Today is Daniela’s birthday, and right now Felix is baking her a cake and playing some techno disco music. Where to start? First, I received an email that Rex is not doing very well and he is in the hospital. (My father-in-law). Apparently he has fallen and broken his tailbone, has a ruptured lumbar disk, and has had a somewhat difficult time cognitively. I’m very sad about it…he will go into rehab after he gets out of the hospital. I hope cortisone will work for his disc. It is troubling to watch our parents become infirm, it certainly lets us know that time is passing. I am glad he has done so much travelling in the last 5 years, he has been everywhere. None of us know when we are going to have problems, so we have to grab every moment, and I believe he has.  I have always known this truth, I grew up going to the funerals of those who never made it to retirement, so I have always taken opportunities when they come my way, to travel, meet new people, experience new things. Age is creeping up, people my age have become ill, so I am going to do and go and see, before I cannot.

First dive this morning I saw a honeycombed whip tail stingray, the most dangerous ray in the world (or so I hear). Not close enough to go to the trouble for a photo, but it was big and beautiful. This was ray day….the whip tail, blue spotted rays, an electric ray, a Jenkins stingray, but no mobulas or mantas. Quite interesting animals on the second dive this afternoon: a Spanish Dancer egg case, for one thing. It looks like a gorgeous pink ribbon. The dive this afternoon was a mess: they forgot to bring my weight belt, prescription mask, and fins…. That was not the worst of it, though. We did the dive, I cannot see very well (no prescription mask), and of course I cannot push myself out of the water onto the boat, though I tried and ended up swallowing too much salt water. The reef, Salon, is only 10 minutes out of the bay, and when we return from a dive we “beach the boat”. Beaching the boat means that the driver runs at top speed ONTO THE SAND. It can be a bit harrowing, but today, I flew up out of the boat and landed in the middle, on a metal rod that runs the length of the boat. Embarrassing? Completely. I am quite sore. You know, it has to be said, I am a true walking, talking disaster zone. I am clumsy, often falling for no reason except I guess I don’t look where I am going, I am accident prone, and I cannot seem to stop these stupid incidents from happening. And yes, I spent most of my childhood in the corner, always in trouble for something. No matter where I go, these things follow me, I guess it is just part of being who I am. It ain’t easy being me! 

Tomorrow we are off to Villancula and Bazaruta Archipeligo: Daniela, Ben, Suzanne, Marcel, and myself. I hear it is beautiful up there, especially around the islands….calm, warm seas, no current, hopefully a bit of a rest. I won’t have access to internet until Sunday night (as far as I know at the moment) so I will check in then. As everyone says here, cheers!

PS: Just had the big birthday celebration for Daniela. Darren (former bartender) mixed up some punch and everyone ended up playing some sort of truth telling card game (of the questions were mostly sexual in nature, and I have to say, they took it easy on me!) It was one way to get to know everyone!