Hello friends,
I hope as you read this your day is going well. Happy Friday! Do you have any fun plans for some outdoor adventures this weekend?
I recently spent some time on the small Caribbean Island of Bonaire,
which is 50 miles off the coast of Venezuela, beside the islands of Aruba and Curacao. Since the whole coastline of this island has been designated a marine sanctuary, it is possible to just walk out into the water from the beach and go snorkeling or diving, a fact that meant everyday while I was there, I got to explore a new underwater destination. If you’ve never been snorkeling, I highly recommend it!
It is so peaceful and so easy to become completely immersed in the world around you. As you float on top of the water, gently moving with the constant waves, all you have to do is look around below you and you will see interesting things. The colorful fish are incredibly diverse, all shapes and sizes and colors. It is easy to be watching one until another swims by and steals your attention.
For me, snorkeling is soul food at its finest, as when I’m floating there I am captivated by the moment, happy to just BE. It is not exactly silent, but my mind is silent, blank, as I am lulled by the gentle sounds of the sea around me. All of those fish! And then, the sea turtle–which I would describe as stardust caught because when I see one I am filled with joy and wonder, awestruck by this exquisite creature making its way in the world, unseen, mostly unnoticed.
It makes me think of two poems that I have loved dearly since first reading them. The first from Lord Byron who said:
“There is pleasure in the pathless woods, there is rapture on the lonely shore, there is society where none intrudes, by the deep sea, the music in its roar, I love not man less, but nature more. ”
And the second, by Henry David Thoreau, an excerpt that I first read many, many years ago, when I was working at a very special park in Westchester County, New York called Ward Pound Ridge Reservation. It goes like this:
“If the day and the night are such that you greet them with joy, and life emits a fragrance like flowers and sweet-scented herbs, that is your success. All nature is your congratulation and you have cause momentarily to bless yourself. The greatest gains and values are farthest from being appreciated. We easily come to doubt they exist. We soon forget them. They are the highest reality… the true harvest of my day life is somewhat as intangible and indescribable as the tints of morning or evening. It is a little star-dust caught, a segment of the rainbow which I have clutched. ”
In this moment of calm, imagine you are the one floating on the top of the sea, watching the world below. When the sea turtle comes into view, do you share my sense of excitement and wonder?
I took a lot of videos in my time on Bonaire, some of which I will share in the coming days. What snorkeling or scuba diving adventures have you had that you might like to share?
Love the Parrotfish.
Yes, they are great. So colorful. Glad I could share it with you!