Here Fishy Fishy! Explorations w Fish

The fish story inspiration: 

From Twitter:

Me: Wishing I was floating in the warm waters of an ocean..it's Where I do my best thinking.. Bathtub will have 2 do 4 2day..#firstworldproblem

Scott: I've never been to the ocean :\

ME: ?????? Never? How about great lakes or lake Michigan?

Scott: nope.

Me:  D*mn.....growing up land locked I watched Cousteau & knew it was a place I had to find ;) ! It was all I thought & more ;)

Then my tiny wheels in my head start spinning.... I start thinking about how I stumbled my way into the ocean.  Remembering how many hours I spent in the bathtub as a kid sniffing the Coppertone Bottle dreaming about what it must be like to be in the ocean actually looking at fish, swimming beside them, exploring the quiet beauty of the ocean.  With those dreams in my noggin I made it a long way. 

I dreamed of water.  We went to Florida many times when I was growing up, I swam across entire lakes as a kid on a dare, or for lifeguard qualification tests at Campfire Girl Camp.

I fished my fool head off.  But as anyone growing up in the MidWest knows...The water is not exactly crystal clear to hang with and observe the fish.

Fast Forward

 A lot of people attack the sea, I make love to it.

~Jacques Y. Cousteau

I finally, I end up on the West Coast.  San Francisco (I thought EVERYwhere in CA was warm, palm trees & etc.  oops minor mistake believing what little TV I watched)  

I had a minor adjustment to make... instead of crystal clear warm water, flip flops and a bikini...I ended up in a full wet suit, mits, booties and hood (learning very quickly that peeing in your wetsuit is an awesome thing when your lips are blue) LOL... 

I learned to sail something larger than a 24ft boat on Lake Michigan.  The bay is pretty unforgiving with tidal pulls that would throw you out to the Farallon Islands.  We boat camped next to Angel Island after sailing all day, BBQ in floating and hiking the island.... (Reminds me I'll have to find a picture I took after getting hoisted up the mast).

I would get up at 4 am to surf in Pacifica, Fort Point or various other places before work or school... Had a big brown "thing" (seal) surf next to me (nearly scared me half to death) I stumbled across my first whale (Unfortunately, it was beached near the range at Ft. Barry) 

BUT STILL NO FISH TO HANG WITH THAT I COULD SEE

Fast Forward

My sister decides to get married on a cruise.  Yippee ;-) 

The cruise is going from Miami to the Bahamas for 4 days with a stop at a private island on the way.

We arrive at the private cove, Its gorgeous sunny, 80, I have my bikini (screw the lotion the chit chat and the fluffy coconut umbrella drinks)!  I have my snorkel gear ( I'm really really REALLY excited)  ready to finally get into seriously tropical warm water (Ok surfing Baja Mexico: Rosarita, & Ensenada are warmer than Half Moon Bay but not tropical) for the first time in FOREVER!!!!

Picture and entire cruise ship worth of people laying on the beach working on their tans getting their mellow on and I'm full blast into the water. Giddy as can be.

So I put on my fins, mask and prepare to finally pretend that I'm finally hanging out with Jacques Cousteau....Stick my face in the water for like 45 seconds and see FISH! 

IM so completely excited, I pop my head up and yell: OMG there are FISH down there!  Hystarically laughing.. I AM so happy I can't contain my excitement!

The ENTIRE beach stopped and looked at me....(yep, I'm a little touched...H*ll I'll never see them again so who cares) and I laughed harder, I cried I was so happy to finally see FISH!

It was such a huge moment in my life to finally fulfil a simple childhood dream. 

I spent the rest of the day smiling, swimming with a happy smile in my heart.

I've hung out with many fish all over the globe since that moment.  Me staring at them, them staring at me.  

"Don’t give up. There are too many nay-sayers out there who will try to discourage you. Don’t listen to them. The only one who can make you give up is yourself."

~Sidney Sheldon~