It's not Friday anymore...

It's been a while and for that, I apologize! We have been busy, busy and exhausted. 

On Saturday, we went for our first Open Water scuba dive lesson - it was very encouraging; it went very well. Nick had been having trouble settling on a pair of flippers that worked for him, but he finally found a pair that he liked - and I realized that much of my trouble underwater came from the fact that the regulator (that is, the breathing tube assembly) mouthpiece was too big to fit in my mouth. We made necessary adjustments, and things went really well. We got to actually "dive" among corals reefs; we saw a moray eel and countless fish, some anemones - a silent, secret blue world just a few yards from the barbecues and loud music and children running wild on the beach. 

On Sunday, we had to dive again! We took our second dive in the same place as the first, but we went a little farther out to sea - with our instructor, of course! - we went to the far side of the drop-off, still within the confines of a (really large) protected harbor. We only went down to 20 feet, but it could have been another planet - the drop-off was a sloping wall covered with myriad coral, fish of all sizes and colors - we swam right among them and they didn't flee, like creatures from the innocent past when nature had not yet learned to fear humans. It was peaceful and beautiful and strange beyond description ... 

and it was exhausting. After that second dive, Nick and I devoured an entire pizza - and we still weren't full! We felt hungry all Monday, too. Yesterday our limbs and lungs and things were still tired and sore. Scuba isn't known for being a workout, but it definitely takes something out of you! 

And that, more or less, was our entire weekend. Just another adventure on the island of Guam... 

UPDATE: Our first scuba experiences made me feel like Sam, at this point in the Lord of the Rings -- 

"[The river] is already a strong stream here, as you see," said Haldir, "and it runs both swift and deep, and it is very cold ... But in these days of watchfulness, we do not make bridges. This is how we cross! Follow me!" He made his end of the rope fast about another tree, and then ran lightly along it, over the river and back again, as if he were on a road. 

"I can walk this path," said Legolas; "but the others have not this skill. Must they swim?" 

"No! said Haldir. "We have two more ropes. We will fasten them above the other, one shoulder-high, and another half-high, and holding these the strangers should be able to cross with care." 

When this slender bridge had been made, the Company passed over, some cautiously and slowly, others more easily. Of the hobbits, Pippin proved the best for he was sure-footed, and he walked over quickly, holding only with one hand; but he kept his eyes on the bank and did not look down. Sam shuffled along, clutching hard, and looking down into the pale eddying water as if it was a chasm in the mountains. 

He breathed with relief when he was safely across. "Live and learn! as my gaffer used to say. Though he was thinking of gardening, not of roosting like a bird, nor of trying to walk like a spider. Not even my uncle Andy ever did a trick like that!" 

One person's feat of daring is another person's daily routine. How about swimming like a fish? Live and learn!