Out of Practice But Not Out of Control

Actual

That's how I felt during the first half of the dive yesterday but I kept kicking and by the time the hour underwater was done I felt (mostly) like my old self.  Part of me just felt old, but I ignored that part and kept going.  The algae is in full bloom this time of year so the viz (visibility) is crap--5' max--and the water is bright green, kind of like a watered down algae shake or one of those wheat grass drinks that looks pretty and tastes like lawn clippings.  Actually that was pretty much what it was like when we first got certified 23 years ago (holy crap! that long ago? yep, in 1990... I miss it being 19something, don't you?) and before the zebra mussels arrived to filter a lot of the algae out most of the year.  Happily the water isn't too cold--68 degrees--so the fact that I forgot to pack my hood didn't keep me out of the water, I only got chilled toward the

I wish

end.  Since water levels are down all over Lake Michigan we reached a maximum depth of 16' (big whoop) but there were lots of nice-size bass and one curious carp (I think, it was pretty murky) especially around the wreck and there was only one jet ski and no fishing boats out yesterday so we didn't have to dodge them.  That's a good thing, there're usually a lot of watercraft on Little Sturgeon Bay when we dive there.  I had to stop at the dive shop and borrow a different BCD (Buoyancy Control Device) or BC because mine doesn't fit this year.  I haven't gained any weight but evidently what I have has repositioned itself so, yeah, I had to borrow one.  That contributed to my unease at the beginning of the dive, I'm sure, but I'm a good diver (or I used to be anyway) so I worked through the challenge, and that made me feel better about myself.  Always a good thing.  DM broke a fin buckle when we were going in so she spent the dive wearing only one fin.  She put it on her right foot at first and did just fine but when she changed it to her left foot and told her left leg to kick she said her right leg was flailing away while her left one, the one with the fin, was still.  She had to shift it back to keep going.  What finally worked was when she put the fin on the left again and then wedged her right foot on top of it so that she was kicking both legs like a dolphin.  Aren't brains funny?


After the dive KC drove to an honor market in a farmyard just down the road from the dive site.  They were looking for peas in the shell, not sugarsnap peas, real peas and there were 2 big bags (maybe the last of the season, peas don't like it hot) that they snapped up and I found some peaches.  Everything was priced and there was a little tin for the money and a pad of paper for you to write down what you buy.  They had sweet corn and apricots and tomatoes and a whole hutch of homemade jam, too.  It felt odd but charming to park in the farmyard with no one around but a few chickens, go into an empty room in a block building and buy things with no one around.  I'll stop again.

Ooh, thunder.  It's been dark and darkening since I got up an hour ago and I've been hearing distant thunder (or road construction) for a bit but now it's here.  Rain, too, Durwood says.  I love storms, don't you?

August 26--Giotto di Bondone, The Epiphany.  Mattie never felt old enough to be a mother let alone a grandmother.  She swore up and down that she didn't remember being pregnant with Eldora and she refused to accept that Ellie knew what needed to be done for her to produce a granddaughter.  Mattie had been married once a long time ago to a man who thought he was Ellie's father.  Those days were pretty fuzzy in Mattie's memory so she couldn't say for certain if he was or he wasn't.  Ellie's daughter, Claire, was a fairly interesting kid.  She had a vivid imagination and a good vocabulary.  She seemed to like spending time with Mattie and she asked to be told stories.  Mattie loved telling stories, some of them might even be true.  Mattie insisted that the little girl call her by her given name in public and only call her Grandma when they were alone.

I have absolutely no idea what that has to do with an epiphany but I like it.  (cda, it makes me think of stories you've written about your Mimi.)  I WILL remember to toast 4 sandwich thins and scoop out 4 bowls of fruit and take sliced cukes, cherry tomatoes, and the container of pesto hummus I made for lunches.  I won't be grubbing around for carrot chips and pretzel rods for lunch this week.  *nods confidently*  Time to wrassle the snowblower out of the shed and roll it into the front so the fixit guy can pick it up today.  Naturally I get to do this in the rain.  Natch.  Might as well get it over with.  Good thing I won't melt.
--Barbara