The Eye of The Storm

I woke up yesterday morning like I have for the past 3 months worth of Saturdays, preparing to go to my Saturday morning job, but first tending to my morning routine; i.e. coffee, e-mail, meditation, walk the dog, then off to my day.........The first email I opened was from my Uncle, with a link to an alert about a possible Tsunami heading toward the Hawaiian islands. Say what???? Wait a minute, I need more coffee.....

With a fresh hot cup ‘o joe in hand, I log on to the Maui County website and sure enough, there is a Tsunami warning, with the first waves expected to hit around 11:25 a.m.

Well, in the short 9 months since arriving on Maui, I had gone through this once before, but by the time I had raced home to scoop up my dog and flee for higher ground, the warning had dissipated to a "watch", and nothing ended up happening. I had heard that we have these "watches" and "warnings" on a fairly frequent basis, so I wasn't too alarmed........until I turned on the t.v. All residents in low lying areas were being told to evacuate by 10:00 a.m. Well, I know enough about "the t.v. people" as I call them, the mass media, the government controlled idiot box, don't get me started......anyway I know enough to know that "They" always dramatize the situation. This makes for good t.v.

Surely someone other than the t.v. people could give me a more accurate account of what was going on, so I turned on the radio. The d.j.'s were telling us that all residents in low lying areas had to evacuate by 10:00, the first siren would sound at 6 a.m., and all major roads would be closed at 10. If you weren't where you were going by 10, you weren't going anywhere. Then the Mayor came on the radio and said that for precautionary measures, the sewage treatment plants would be shut down at 8:30, so take your showers, and do your duty before then. To be clear, she didn’t actually say “Do your duty”, but of course I’m sure that is what EVERYONE was thinking when she told us no more flushing after 8:30.

Sure enough at 6a.m., a very loud siren went off. O.k., I thought, I live across the street from the beach. If a Tsunami wave actually hits, this whole house will be washed away, or at the very least flooded. It was starting to dawn on me that this was for real. I may very well lose whatever I can't cram into my car.

What do you take when you are being given 4 hours notice to pack up your entire household, but you can only take what you can fit into your car? Of course my dog, Miss Maggie, would be coming along...and the photo albums, all of them.

First I must bathe though, as I don't know how many days I might be without a shower, so I hopped in the shower and proceeded to shave my legs. Looking back on that now, that seems a bit ridiculous. If we were facing a real emergency, would anybody give a rip if I had hairy legs or not? Not likely! But I did it anyway, still not sure why. Funny the things we do in an emergency.

O.k., out of the shower, simultaneously looking at the t.v., listening to the radio, brushing my teeth and pacing the house looking at everything, wondering what I needed. Maggie is by this time a little agitated. She knows my routine by now and I never watch t.v. or listen to the radio in the morning. That extra noise in the house, plus the siren that went off, and me pacing wildly about, put her on the alert that something was not right.

What do I need to take, let's see:

Maggie

Photo Albums

Water

Food

Dog Food

Clean underwear! Never be caught in a Tsunami with dirty underwear......wait, that's a car accident rule, but same rule applies here, I thought to myself......(or was this as un-necessary as shaving my legs?)

At this point, the sirens were going off every hour.

I must have been trying to go into denial as I walked upstairs to my neighbors house (I'm in a split level duplex, with neighbors above me) to ask Martha if she was packing. She'd lived here for the past 7 years, so I figured if she was leisurely sipping coffee, I would ignore the whole thing.

Martha said,” Well, I'm not packing or leaving, I've been through these things so many times before, but let's call George (her husband) to get the latest update." Her husband works for the County, and had left for work early that morning. She got on the phone with him, and immediately he must have said something alarming to her, because she blurted out, "Well, do you have 2 minutes for me right now? Should I be packing?" Other than that, she couldn't get a word in edgewise. All she kept saying was "Uh-huh, uh-huh, o.k." You need to know that George is the most low key, laid back, relaxed individual you'll ever meet, so for her to not be able to get a word in was little alarming to me. This went on for about 5 minutes until she said, "Oh, crap", and then he was talking non-stop to her again. Oh, crap?

I'm sure you all have some idea of what she said to me when she got off the phone, or at least the gist of it. "We are indeed being evacuated. I will be leaving here and going to higher ground, but we aren't expecting flooding higher than 10 feet, so I'm not packing anything as our things are safe up here on the second floor. But what that means for you, Norma, is that since you are downstairs and this house is at sea level, whatever you can't fit into your car, you will lose. You can bring anything you want upstairs here to our house." No emotion, just matter of fact.

I'll be writing more later about a certain fierceness you develop, by necessity, when you live here on the islands. No time for fear. You either deal with these things or perish, at least emotionally.

Back downstairs, I start looking at my food supplies. Luckily I shop at Costco, so I had enough cans of refried beans, tuna fish, V-8 juice and clam chowder to last (a year or more, no doubt). That and a can opener and I'm set. Not enough bottled water though. Depending on where you live on the island, the tap water is not necessarily drinkable. Such is the case where I live, so back upstairs I ran to "borrow" water from Martha, who had a built in water filter system.

9 a.m. and friends and family from the mainland start calling to see if I'm o.k. I felt I had to answer the phone, otherwise they might worry, but I was in the middle of packing, so was quite short with everyone, I'm sure. "I'm packing, I'm fine, I love you, I'll call you when I get to higher ground" Click.

I don't even know where I’m going when I finally get out of the house. Can't think about that now, must keep packing....Into my purse went one of my son’s baby shoes, along with his first woolen mittens. I had kept these throughout the years. One lone tiny shoe and a pair of orange baby mittens.

At this point the sirens are going off every half hour, the police are up and down our street with THEIR sirens on, and I've got suitcases and trash bags full of belongings all over the floor. (I do not fall into the Martha Stewart category of having packing boxes at the ready in case of Tsunami...mental note to myself to be more Martha Stewart-like for next natural disaster.) I am alternately stuffing my car and bringing things upstairs. Maggie is on full alert and not leaving my side. I mean literally, AT MY SIDE (read: in the way) everywhere I go at this point.

Flash forward a half hour, I'm in my car, pulling out onto the main street and here come 2 patrol cars, which I flag down. "Where do I go", I ask them. "Go up to the upper highway", they say. I had a better idea......I'd go to the shopping center that is a block down from the upper highway (albeit closer to the ocean). The fire station was next door to this shopping area, along with restaurants and a market. Perfect, I thought, in case things got really dire. Well, me and about 1,000 other people AND their dogs, had the same idea. Luckily it wasn't blistering hot, nor was it raining. Maggie and I hung out on a grassy area for awhile, listening to a group of tourists complaining about how this was ruining their day. I turned to them, and said, "Be happy you didn't just spend the past 4 hours, packing your entire life into your car." They didn't appreciate my comment. Well, I didn't appreciate their attitude. Get a grip people, be happy you have your life!

Three and a half hours later and the disaster never came. We were safe. We could go home. I drove home and unpacked my car, but left most of my belongings in trash bags strewn about the house. Just exhausted from this ordeal. Laid on the couch for awhile, unable to do anything, then decided I needed to go to the beach. The ocean, my place of solace, my therapy, my friend. I had to go to the place that earlier had threatened to take everything from me, and make peace with it.

I unpacked my suitcases until I found my swim suit, having absolutely no intention of getting in the ocean. I was mad at Her, scared of Her, really unsettled that my Mother Ocean had the capability to take us out, at will, whenever. I had always had respect for the ocean, now it was more than that, something I couldn't put my finger on, and I had to face it in order to make peace within myself.

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The ocean was as calm as a lake on a still summer afternoon. As I sat there in the sand, I saw several whales breach completely out of the water. The whales were doing their thing, they were o.k. I felt slightly better seeing them again. This had become a daily ritual with me since last December when these glorious beings first arrived for the season. Seeing 45 tons of beauty flying through the air in a full breach is breathtaking, humbling, healing to the spirit.

I’m not going in, I told myself. There are sharks out there.

The Tsunami wave threat is still a possibility. I'm mad at You. I'm scared of You.

………….Not going in, not going in, not going in........

But I couldn’t help myself, or perhaps that is exactly what I did, help myself, as I waded out into the water. Feeling the warm liquid of Mother Ocean surround me, I was back. Back from where I had temporarily gone, from that place of fear to the familiar feeling of the waves, the salty taste, the weightlessness.

Akin to what being in the womb might be like if we could remember that.......I felt safe, yet could die at any moment, but there was no fear....As I swam out to the reef a calmness came over me....... I belong here, never leaving, so respectful of you and grateful for you. I am drawn to you. I can’t help but love you.

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Maui (or why I never moved to Molokai)

About 9 months before moving to Maui, I was actually offered a very good position on the island of Molokai. Through a series of emails, Skype interviews and phone calls, I had secured the job. Executive Director of a non-profit substance abuse facility. True, I had been telling friends and family for over a year that I was moving to Maui, but hey, this was close, right? At least I was offered a position on one of the Hawaiian islands. I could use my days off, travel to Maui and look for work, all the while being employed on Molokai. I could vacation on Maui, heck, I could SEE Maui from Molokai….practically there, I thought.

I boarded the plane one cold rainy April, and headed to Molokai, via Maui of course, because there are no planes that go to Molokai. With a population of just over 7,000, and minimal tourism, Molokai is a breed apart, in terms of the Hawaiian islands. With approximately 2,500 of the island’s residents having at least 50% Hawaiian heritage, except for Niihau (a small private island), Molokai is the only island where Hawaiian’s are the majority.

There isn’t much traffic in Molokai. Only by boat or by barge didn’t anything or anyone travel to and from that island…the occasional tourists, Molokai residents, and me. Or so I thought.

Renting a condo in Kihei, like I had for the past several years while visiting my sweet Maui, I planned my trip. I was here to meet my staff, had to take a boat, and had to take that boat out of the Lahaina harbor. Kihei being a good 45 minute drive from Lahaina, with no traffic, I had to plan this trip very carefully, so as not to miss the boat. The day before I was to leave from Lahaina, I drove there to scope out the parking situation. Having not lived here before, I had no idea that there were “secret” free parking, so I was left to being the tourist I currently was, and finding parking that would be available for three days, as that is how long I’d be in Molokai.

The first glitch I encountered was that there was only overnight parking for two days, not the three I needed, so I had to call the Board of Directors at the nonprofit that hired me to tell them I couldn’t stay the full three days. As I mentioned, there ARE places you can park indefinitely, but I hadn’t any idea about that at the time. So, no problem, they said, two days is fine, we’ll just re-adjust our schedule to fit yours.

The morning of my boat trip, I gathered everything I thought I’d be needing for my stay in Molokai and went outside to clear out the rental car. Since I’d be parking overnight and leaving my car unattended for two solid days, I didn’t want my snorkel gear, beach towel, etc. to be stolen, so I thought I’d better empty out the car. This was 5:15 a.m., the boat left at 7:15, it was an hour drive, so I had one hour to get everything together. No problem!!!

I leave my condo, get to the parking lot, open my car door and clean out all the beach gear I want to leave behind. As I turn around to walk back up to my condo, I realize I do not have the condo keys.

I have locked myself out. It is 5:15 in the morning and I have locked myself out.

O.k., don’t panic, there must be a window open, I thought to myself, so up the elevator to the second floor I go and check. Hmmm….no windows open. Then I realized the sliding glass door to the lanai is open, so if I can scale the condo complex and somehow get to the second floor, I can climb over the railing and get inside. Back downstairs outside now, as I peruse this possibility. Those of you who know me personally understand that if there was a way into that condo, I would have done it, regardless if it meant climbing a 40 foot tree and hanging by a toenail to reach that Lanai railing. Viewing the side of the building, I realized that unless I suddenly grew sticky gecko hands and feet, this was not happening.

O.k., don’t panic, it’s only 5:30, go to the front office…….yes front office closed, it’s only 5:30, silly girl. But wait, there are emergency phone numbers on the outside of the office door. Thank GOD. Just have to dial one of these and I’m home free. Wait, no cell phone. That’s inside my condo sitting NEXT TO THE FRIGGIN KEYS…..argh….o.k., you’ve got a good brain, you can memorize one of these numbers, get in the car and go to the nearest gas station or anywhere and ask to use their phone. Here’s the emergency number, that’s sure to be a good one.

I get in the car, without my driver’s license, as that is next to the cell phone which is next to THE FRIGGIN KEYS….

……555-5391, 555-5391, 555-5391, 555-5391…. I say over and over to myself, trying to memorize the emergency number while looking for anything that might be open. No worries, it’s 5:30 after all, someplace must be open, right???

No gas stations, convenience stores, grocery stores, nothing open, 555-5391, 555-5391, 555-5391, 555-5391.…..now it’s 5:45.……, 555-5391, 555-5391, 555-5391, 555-5391.…..ah, Yes, a dive shop has it’s lights on, excellent. I pull into the parking lot of the dive shop, repeating my latest mantra over and over…, 555-5391, 555-5391, 555-5391.…..

Entering the dive shop, I blurt, “Uh, hello, I need help, I’m locked out of my condo and have to catch a boat in an hour and need to make a phone call, and can you help me please?”, and tears starting rolling down my cheeks….

“Well, aren’t you a pretty one?!” the store keeper starts, with a mischievous look in his eye. Great, just what I need, a flirtatious store keeper.

“I HAVE TO CATCH A FRIGGIN BOAT!!!!!” , I half scream, half warble as I’m starting to panic at this point. At this he nearly jumped off his seat, but also was able to gather his wits long enough to offer me his cell phone.

I dial the number and a recording comes on,

“Hello, you have reached the emergency hotline of ABC condo complex. We’re sorry we can’t come to the phone right now, but if you care to leave your name and number, we will call you as soon as we are in.”

Oh, God, I’m in trouble now.

Turning back to the dive shop owner who at this point looks like he‘s drooling and with an odd grin on his face, I ask “Can I borrow a pen and paper? There are several numbers written on the condo office door, so if I drive back there, I can write them all down and surely someone will pick up the phone”.

Back at the complex, I’m writing all the numbers down, and trying to ignore the fact that I have been driving up and down the main boulevard without my driver’s license.

I head back to the dive shop and the owner at that point tells me he has to leave, so he needs his cell phone back.

“And here are a bunch of quarters for the pay phone, and call me sometime, let’s go for a sail. You sure are beautiful!” Ick, can’t he see I’m in a crisis here? Doesn’t he care? Well, first lesson, sugar pie, no he does not care. He may have lent you his cell phone and given you quarters, but he’s not doing that without his own best interests in mind. Ok, whatever, no time for anger at the slime balls of the world, need to focus.

As I call each number I had written down, to no avail, I realize it’s getting late. If I don’t get on the road in 15 minutes, I’m not going to get on that boat, the only boat that day, to Molokai.

I finally reach an actual person on the other end of the line.

“It’s 6 a.m., I’m still in bed, can you please call back after 8?”

“Well, no,” I explain, “I’ve been locked out and, blah, blah, blah, blah,” all of the words tumble out frantically to someone on the other end of the line who I’ve obviously woken up. As she sleepily explains to me that even if she was able to hop in her car right then, it would take her 45 minutes to get to the condo, which would be too late for me to still make it to the boat on time, I realize I’m S.O.L.

Well, the condo office didn’t open until 8 a.m. I had called every number on that office door, and now I had nothing to do but wait. I was missing the boat, that much was certain.

As I sat on the beach that morning, waiting for the office to open, I reflected on all that had happened. I’m a firm believer in things happening for a reason. Did I really want to move to an island populated by mostly natives? I had heard story after story of the natives, being hostile to the Haoles (us white folk). Even if this was not true, if I took that position as the Executive Director of a substance abuse facility, would there be a chance that someone in treatment, loaded out of his mind one night and mad at me because (he thinks, as most addicts do) it’s my fault he’s in this recovery facility, …would there be a chance I’d not be safe? And what about activities? I had been told that I better be pretty self-contained, because there was not much to do there. That might be fine for newlyweds, or other tourists visiting for a short while, but what about me, after my first couple of months of exploring every nook and cranny of the island, knowing no-one, having no-where to go?

At 8a.m., the condo office opened and I was given a spare set of keys. I let myself into my room, and called the Board member that was supposed to pick me up at the harbor in about 15 minutes.

“Hi, I just wanted to let you know I’m not on the boat.”

“Excuse me?”

“Well, it’s a long story, and I locked myself out of my condo about 3 hours ago, and I’ve had a long time to sit on the beach this morning and think. And not only am I not on the boat, I’m not taking the job. I’m so sorry for anything you may have done on my behalf to prepare for my arrival, but I must tell you that my heart is on Maui. I am going to live on Maui.”

Well, after a little more conversation, I got off the phone and looked outside at the coastline that had become so familiar to me over the years from my many visits to Maui. This was to be my home, I knew it now more than ever.

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Funny how we end up where we are meant to be, even when we sometimes try our best to go somewhere else.

Dolphins

It was my umpteenth vacation to Maui and this time I would swim with dolphins. How did I know this? Because I said I would. Never mind that I intended to do this in the open ocean, where they may or may not show up and even if they did, they may or may not choose to swim with me. I am a firm believer in creating my own reality and so had high hopes that this intention would materialize.

Before leaving for my trip, I had searched the internet for the best coastal areas to find the dolphins, without any luck. You could take a chartered boat to one location only, but once on that boat, couldn’t get in the water if they appeared. There was no mention, at least I couldn’t find any, of anyone swimming in the ocean off the coast of Maui, with my mammalian friends. This just can’t be right, I thought. I knew there must be a way.

After arriving in Maui, I thought the best course of action would be to talk to a local. They would know where the pods frequent. The day before my intended rendezvous, I went into one of the many stores that rent snorkels, fins, beach umbrellas and other assorted beach gear, to find my answer.

“Where can I swim with the dolphins?”, I asked the Hawaiian behind the register.

“Well, you can take this chartered boat, and…”

“No, no, I mean where can I swim with the dolphins in the open ocean?”

“You can’t. That can’t be done, not in Maui. You can go to Oahu, or…..”,

I didn’t hear the rest of what he said. I knew I could find dolphins off the coast here somewhere. They WERE out there, I was sure of it, I just had to find them. Why wasn’t he divulging this information? What was the big secret?

“I KNOW they are out there. I’m a good swimmer. I need to swim with them.”

He must have thought I was another fruity tourist on a mission. I guess I was, to a certain extent, as I was a middle age female tourist, visiting Maui by myself, who was determined to swim with the dolphins, come hell or high water. I had done this for years though, come here by myself. And, I was very comfortable in the water, having swum competitively for many many years in my youth.

“O.k., I’ll tell you, but this is a little known secret.”

A secret? Why in the world would this be a secret? I learned later on that many people do not understand or care to learn about the respect and proper way to interact with these creatures, and thus there have been many abuses (whether intended or not) throughout the years. So, it made sense that he didn’t want another stupid human potentially endangering this wonderful species, one of the treasures of the Hawaiian islands.

“You must get up before dawn and drive to the end of the road. Once the pavement ends, you will see lava rock on either side of you…at this point, just keep driving until the road ends. Then you must walk out among the lava rocks and there, in the bay, IF they decide to show up, is the most likely place you’ll have a chance to swim with them. If you don’t get there before dawn though, forget it, as they usually don’t hang around that area for long.”

“Thanks!!!” That was all I needed. If they were there, I was swimming with the dolphins the next morning.

The next morning I lifted my head sleepily from the pillow and glanced at the clock. 8:30!!! Noooooo!!! What happened? When in Maui, I usually get up around 5:30, as I’ve never really gotten used to the time change, it being three hours earlier from my Oregon home. Well, for pete’s sake, damn it all. I missed my opportunity.

Deep in thought while making my morning coffee, I figured I could at least go scope out the place, and try again the following morning. So, off I went to the “secret” location, known only to the locals.

Upon arriving at around 9:30 that morning, I found my parking place next to about 10 other rental cars. Evidently, this wasn’t such a secret location. Oh well, I just wanted to see my dolphins, it didn’t matter to me who else was there. A coast guard in a pick-up was looking through his binoculars so I decided to ask a few questions.

“Have you seen them yet? The dolphins? Where they here this morning?”

“No, not yet this morning. Looks like they are a no-show for the day. Maybe tomorrow.” My heart dropped. Oh well, let’s check out that lava rock and see what I’m in for, in terms of getting in the water.

This was a sharp craggy part of the coastline, and depending on the tidal pull and waves hitting the rocks, you had to be very careful getting into the water. When the tide came in, you could sit on a certain level portion of one of the rocks, a seat, if you will, and push off very quickly right before the tide surged out. In that way, the tide would help you get out into the ocean. A few seconds later the tide would rush you backwards into the sharp lava, surely inflicting several lacerations in the process. I dipped my toes in the water. Cold, wow, that was new. I had always experienced a lovely warmth in the Maui waters. And the wind was picking up. Maybe there was a storm brewing and the dolphins, being the sentient creatures that they are, had decided to swim in other parts of the ocean that morning.

I decided to sit for a spell and pulled out my binoculars. Viewing the horizon, I saw nothing but white caps and storm clouds rolling in, but still, it was beautiful. The coastline was littered with the most beautiful coral you’d ever seen. Golden, pink and white, for the most part, the entire beach was not made up of sand, but of coral. If there was a heaven, I was in it, right then and there. Scanning back to the water, I saw more white caps, no……..wait, what was that,…. I stood up, blinked, and looked harder through my tiny opera glasses that had served as binoculars for years. Those weren’t white caps, those were dolphins. It looked like about 50 of them, from what I could tell. And they were coming into the bay!!! Holy toledo, Batman, they were headed this way!!!

I scrambled to put my fins and snorkel gear on and then looked down at my entry point. The tidal swell was intimidating. I looked up again, and the dolphins were still there. Back down at the surging tide, back up at the dolphins. Fear flooded my body. What if I pushed off at the wrong time and was crushed against the rock? The dolphins were a good 400 yards off the coast. What if by the time I got out there they had decided to leave and there I’d be, 400 yards out, prey to another inhabitant of the ocean, the shark? I was alone after all. I had always heard to swim with a buddy when going out into the ocean. Although there were other tourists with their binoculars looking at the beautiful sight of the dolphins leaping and swimming around, no one else had their swim suit on. With the weather rapidly deteriorating, apparently everyone but me had the good sense to keep their clothes on.

“O.k., Norma, what are you going to do. This is what you came here for. They are here. It’s now or never.”

Judging the tide just so, I thankfully pushed off at the right time to be pulled out away from the rocks. Lordy, it’s cold. (Note to self, get wetsuit for future dolphin swims.) Swimming water polo style with my head out of the water in order to keep track of the pod, I had a bit of fear that perhaps there was a shark (or two or ten) between me and them. Norma, gosh darn it all, go!! No fear, just swim. You can do this.

I noticed they were still swimming into the bay and at about 200 yards out, I stopped swimming and started treading water as they approached me. You see, one doesn’t decide to swim with dolphins. With their superior strength and ease in the water, they decide (or not) to swim with you.

They were heading straight for me! Woo hoo!! As the pod approached, my nagging fear turned to awe. In unison they dove below me. I put my head in the water and started kicking as strongly as I could to keep up with them. I did not want to use my arms as I didn’t want to startle them by splashing about. So, I kept my kicking below the water’s surface as well. Not that they could be startled, but I was doing everything in my power that I could think of to keep them with me. Man, they were strong. And big. Most of the pod were a good six feet in length, with a few smaller ones, and a baby, about three feet long. I noticed that although together in the pod, they seemed to be paired off. Two by two, and the baby with it’s mama.

The pod swam underneath me for what seemed like about ten minutes and then, in unison, they tilted their heads upward, as if looking up at me. One hundred eyes on me at the same time made me catch my breath. It seemed as if they were communicating with each other, and shortly after they tilted their heads, together they swam up and around me.

Jumping in the air, diving below me, swimming around me and all so close, I could have touched them had I reached out. Shortly after they encircled me, one of the pod got especially close and swam with me for the duration of my swim with them. As they swam with me, I tried to anticipate and/or follow their moves, in order to stay with them. I turned as they turned. As they sped up, I tried to stay with them. With what seemed like a gentle flick of their tails, they would at times leave me ten to fifteen feet behind them, then they would slow down again, and I was able to catch up. To have the trust of the mama, swimming right next to me with her baby, was incredible. The baby was doing vertical circles around her, obviously playing, and making the most beautiful sounds.

I heard many different types of sonar that morning, some more high pitched than others, and some sounds in what seemed like response to others. I was certain they were communicating with each other, and I chimed in, in my best imitation of “dolphin”. I felt one with the pod. Up and down the coast we swam, just me and the pod, for a good two hours. I felt so privileged to have this opportunity. After about two hours, I noticed my body was shaking and realized I was chilled to the bone. I was physically wearing out at that point and didn’t want to leave, but truly had no more strength left, so reluctantly turned toward shore.

As I maneuvered the craggy rocks back up onto solid land, I noticed it was pouring rain. Hmmm, I wondered how long it had been raining for, as I certainly didn’t notice it earlier. Wrapping my towel around me and looking out at the dolphins who were now swimming out to sea, one of the tourists approached me.

“That was incredible. You were the only human out there. And for so long!! That was fantastic.”

Yes, yes it was.