Okay, just to clarify. I think I mentioned in the past few months, I have dealt with back issues. Not spinal; muscular. I have three different spots in my back from lower up through my right shoulder that seem to be extra vulnerable. I have also come to recognize the things I’m doing to cause these flare-ups which can last only a day or two or up to a week. I’ve never been one for gardening as I have also explained, so the fact I can’t do much now in the way of bending over for long isn’t the kind of problem it would be for some friends who are avid gardeners.

On to scuba. Because I’m still fat, I use 14 pounds of weight. With that and the rest of the equipment, it’s about 30 pounds on my back. Even though you are “weightless” in the water, the weight doesn’t “disappear”. When I dive, I tend to move around a fair amount, looking under, going over, and often twisting into different positions. The twisting motion is where I get myself in trouble and it simply isn’t likely that I will change my style after all this time. So while the dive boat crew is great about offering to take my gear off in the water to keep my from limbing the ladder with it on, that won’t alter what I’m doing underwater.

Our reefs are shallow enough to make for good snorkeling and in general, I will see plenty of cool stuff. Wednesday was an exception because the current had been tricky all week and we went to two more protected sites that aren’t as good for snorkeling as the usual places. I did see some of my small favorites and even though I didn’t see them, there was a turtle and a couple of rays. Had I been in the correct spot at the correct time, I would have seen those as well. And speaking favorite smalls, here are my pretty blue chromis.

Chromis are seen on most of the local reefs.