You probably didn't see my late-night update yesterday, as I wrote it, well, very late at night. *chuckle* Check it out. I'll be writing more later on today, of course.

Halb sieben

Ach, meine Jungen und Mädchen... ich habe eine kopfschmerz. Trev, ich weiss es nicht mit diesem flipping erste mal am der Tag. Hab' ich keine Geschichte schreiben! Hehe. Iguanaboy should be able to parse that, everyone else use babelfish at Altavista if really interested (it's not that important, heh). Damn, but my German is rusty. Haven't got anyone to practice it with since Charlotte left Berkeley to become a rabbi but oh well, that's really neither here nor there.

Today was windy over here by the Lahaina side, and I can imagine it was ferociously so upcountry in Kula and Pukalani, and on the valley where Wailuku and Kahului are. The tradewinds roared over the top of the West Maui Mountains and out over the ocean, making the surface of the sea a stunning filigree of whitecaps. This scared off most tourists from the extensive reefs at Olowalu (the most popular snorkeling area in Maui), but not me. What's a little choppy sea now and then? Besides, the action is underneath the waves, and surface disturbances don't affect the currents underneath all that much. Only if a large swell is breaking is it dangerous to be out snorkeling or diving along the reef. So, I was pretty much all by myself out there, aside from a few other intrepid souls.

I am beginning to lose myself to the undersea world. It's a good feeling, as it's a meditative kinda sensation. I like hanging there in the water, just looking all around, and listening. I was under the mistaken assumption that fish are mostly quiet. Not quite, particularly when they're feeding. There's a fairly loud clicking noise going on in the vicinity of a school of feeding fish, and I'm still not sure how they do that. (I thought only porpoises or dolphins and whales made underwater noises.) Anyway, there IS sound, and I close my eyes from time to time as I levitate gently on the swell. At intervals, I take a few deep breaths, and then dive down to the reef floor, making my way through and around magnificent alleyways of coral and rock, following first one group of fish and then another. I'm getting better at holding my breath for a good long while, and also tolerating the pressure on my eardrums when going deep. I am beginning to find myself dreaming about snorkeling and diving, and this is a sure a sign as any that this intense world underneath the waves has captured my imagination, and I intend to continue looking at it closely, and being there, as often as I can.

{ net.casting }
^