SCUBA - It's for the birds.

We were certified to SCUBA in 1993. It was pretty cool; you get to watch videos of the “beautiful deep blue sea” with all the colorful fishes and creatures of the deep. Then you get to don the gear; BC (Buoy Vest,) the “skins,” the regulator (your breathing apparatus,) the flippers and the tank. Then you learn how to get in and out of the YMCA’s pool. After you become accustomed to the gear and the breathing they let you go to the lake and actually dive deep.

They make it sound so easy. You can’t wait to get to the ocean and see the wonderful, beautiful sites….

After our classes ended, we played all summer at Lake Ouachita. We had a houseboat and went out every weekend. Diving all around the dam and the cliffs, all over the lake. I thought I was doing pretty well and started looking forward to diving in the ocean.

We planned our trip for January, right after Christmas. We headed off to the Keys and warm weather. I love Florida. If I had to live anywhere else I’d choose Florida. The Keys were awesome. We drove the long highway stretching from island to island; all the way to end of the US Hwy 1.

The day we went diving was sort of blustery. We arrived at the boat, met the captain, loaded our gear and set out to sea. I should have known better – the swells that day were “eight feet,” according to the captain. But no, I was determined to dive.

We rode into the Atlantic for about an hour or so, when we stopped you couldn’t see land in any direction that you looked.

I geared up; careful to ensure my gauges were within reach, my mask was snug, my weight-belt the proper weight, etc. I was the first one on the boat that was ready to hit the “drink.” But then that fear hit me. I wanted to go, but I didn’t want to be first. So I unzipped my “BC” and acted like I was still getting ready.

Finally the others began to disembark. When I stood up to enter the water, you’d a thought I was a pro. I kicked out my left leg forward and jumped with my right leg backward. I held my weight-belt and my regulator. Everything was going swimmingly.
My buddy (my husband) was right behind me and we began our descent to about 90 feet.

Remember, this was my first time. I was “so very” a novice. I was looking for blue water and bright colored fish.

What I saw was murky, dirty, sandy water. I couldn’t even see my buddy beside me, let alone any fish. A shark could be swimming right next to me and I’d a never known. Down we kept going. It seemed like we were kicking and going down, I could barely see our friend, Les, just ahead of me.

I went to grab my gauges to see how deep we were. Reaching all around, reaching to the other side, NO GAUGES! I thought to myself where could they be? And I remembered. I had unzipped my BC to stall when I was on the boat. I had forgotten to ensure the gauges were secure when I re-zipped and inadvertently zipped them up inside my BC.

I still couldn’t see my husband/buddy. So I stopped kicking. Then he came in closer to me; I made the sign to ascend. He looked at me and shook his head “NO.” So I started to go up without him. I could feel him grabbing at my fins; trying to keep me from going up. I still went up.

Then the adventure goes berserk.

When I surfaced I looked for our boat. I turned all around and didn’t see anything. My buddy surfaced and I yelled, “Where’s the boat?” He looked all around and pointed to this very small dot on the horizon. Yes A DOT. The current had carried us so far from the boat that you could barely tell it was a boat.

That’s when my panic went out of control.

You see there is a reason why you must be a very good swimmer to dive the ocean. It’s not like a lake where the water is still and calm. There are currents like rivers all over. If you get caught in one it will carry you miles away in just seconds. And, at the time of year that we went, it was probably the worst time for any novice.

So let’s recap. I’m in the ocean looking for the beautiful blue water with all the colorful fishes. The only thing I found was dark, murky, fast moving water – everything was the color of sand. I decide I’m not going to do this and surface only to find myself halfway to Bermuda.

I go ballistic. “My Buddy” is trying to soothe my fears. He’s talking calmly to me and steadily kicking to the little dot on the horizon. I’m dog-tired, praying to God, and yelling HELP! (What he should have done is knock me out and drag me – which I told him he should have done.)

Finally, the captain of the boat realizes our plight. He begins to let out these buoys with a long line of rope. But we still have to swim to meet the buoy. I’m so exhausted by now that I can hardly kick my fins.

I feel someone unlatch my weight-belt and it falls away. After that I feel a little lighter and get enough energy to help kick to the buoys. We slowly reach the first buoy and captain begins reeling us in.

I finally make it to the boat. I climb aboard and fall into a heap. I am so exhausted. I want to go home.

Tim gets on board. I tell him that it was a good idea to release my belt because after it fell away it was easier to maneuver in the water. He said he didn’t touch my belt and didn’t know what I was talking about. I know I felt someone’s hand at my belt. So I guess my guardian angel was swimming the Atlantic that day.

Man, I’m getting exhausted just by writing all this down. We make it back to shore and do the tourist thing for the rest of our stay. It was an adventure for sure, but I will NEVER jump off a boat in the ocean again.

Maybe we’ll try sky-diving next.

To Grandma & Grandpa's house we go...

(Click the button on right to see the family) My mom’s family is huge. She had seven brothers and sisters: Juanita, Alvin, Elvis, Mom, David, Charlene, Orville, and Troy.

The first three and the last four were spread apart, so Mom was kinda like the oldest – like me, to her younger siblings.

I remember every Sunday, we would go to church and then to Grandma and Grandpa’s house for Sunday dinner. Many of Mom’s family would also be there.

All the kids, Uncle Orville and Uncle Troy – who wasn’t much older than us grandkids – would all play football, or scale the barn roof, or swing in the tire swing. Aunt Juanita and Uncle Johnny made homemade ice-cream. Dad, Uncle Alvin and Uncle Troy were shade-tree mechanics.

We always looked forward to letters from Uncle David and Uncle Elvis, who were in the service. Everyone got a chance to read them.

I also remember standing around a piano, listening to my Mom and Aunts sing gospel songs. Sometimes Uncle Troy and Uncle Orville (with his deep bass voice) would sing too.

Grandma was an excellent cook. She made THE BEST chicken dressing. It would delight your taste-buds like you just can’t believe. Everything was always fresh; all the vegetables came from Grandpa’s garden. And, Grandma made this wonderful chocolate cake dripping with icing that tasted like hot cocoa.

Even the water from the well, that Grandpa witched himself, tasted like ambrosia. It was the best well water I've ever tasted.

Grandpa had a huge garden. We would watch him work it. It was amazing to see everything grow. Unfortunately, I didn’t inherit his green thumb. I can’t grow anything and every plant I adopt turns brown.

Grandma was a very independent woman – like me. She wasn’t afraid to tell it like it is. (I got that from her.) She used to call me up, just to say hi and see what I was doing. (I miss those calls now.)

She usually drove when she and grandpa went anywhere. Some even said she had a lead foot. She lived to be 85 years old; and until then she never let anything get her down.

Grandpa drove too, but it was kinda scary when he did. I went fishing with him a couple of times. As we were on our way to the fishing hole, he would drive sorta in the center of the road. If a car was coming to us, he would move the car way over toward the ditch. He never had any accidents that I could recall, but it was an adventure to go with him.

He was such a big soft-hearted man. He was very sensitive to others and I've even seen him cry at times when he heard something that was sad. He was a very smart man too. He use to teach Agriculture at Joe T. - way before I went there.

I will always remember our family and all the wonderful times we had at Grandma and Grandpa’s. These are cherished memories.