Category: Uncategorized

In the summer of 79, I think…we were moving to Okinawa. My father was stationed there with the Marine Corps and we were to live there for a year.

During the summer, we stayed at my Uncle Chris’ condo in Hawaii Kai. He was as a big boss at a Honolulu newspaer and was working his ass off. It was my mom, me, Jason, Sara and my cousins Alissa and Rachel.

I had a middle school friend named Ritchie Miller who’s father was stationed at MCAS Kaneohe. I used to go boogie boarding with him out at the beaches on the NE side of the island. (Shout out to Richie wherever he is…I could still hit his sinker pitch (baseball)). It’s kinda sad that is military brats weren’t/don’t/can’t keep in touch better.

In any case, one day we all went to a place called Hanauma Bay on the island of Oahu.

Hanauma Bay was a a fairly popular snorkeling site. This was 1979 so scuba diving as a recreational sport was in its infancy.

But that first experience seeing these parrotfish which are so ubiquitous on a reef, cleaning the coral and shitting out sand had a huge impact on me. You could hear them crunch on the coral. I still hear it every day here. And that clear blue water.

I remember that. It was important to me. I still remember that so vividly. That was the beginning for me here.

(More stories about that Hawaii and Okinawa time to come).

All The Best,

Elliott

Might have shared before, sorry if it’s repetitive. And it might offend some people. But it was instrumental to me.

There is a thief at the Heritage Club!

Someone stole my flip flops outside Tranquilla! After a mad thunderstorm. I walked a mile barefoot in the rain and sludge! And now I have some sort glass or something in my foot!

The outrage!

Went out to Moonhole again for a fun dive.

No octopus, but we got a sight of a big ass crab, a little crab and a hermit crab that legit had coral growing on him.

But the big fun was we cut out lights off and hovered for 20 mins. The moon was in and out but there was a lightning storm above us that gave these flashes of light.

And then my dive buddies decided to take off their fins and “walk” on the bottom. With their fins on their hands…looked like some Godzilla opponent. Good stuff.

And we all got re-acquainted with the expression Dingleberry.

Apparently my old apartment in NYC features in the new Joker movie.

Between dives, one of our boat captains noticed a fishing buoy moving around at a dive site. The buoy had broken free from the main fishing line but was still attached to some sort of fish.

A few of the divers went to check it out and found it attached to a 6 foot nurse shark. The buoy had him trapped in the shallow water.

Matthieu, one of our instructors cut the line to the buoy, thus freeing the shark. The hook and line are still in, but that should rust out in a few weeks.

I will wait for the inevitable response I will get….

Stay tuned.

I’m back in Utila after a week in the US. I have a pair of dives this morning and will be assisting on a class starting tomorrow morning.

For some reason I just looked at the weather in the US and it has definitely cooled. It was 95F in Charlotte when I left. 60F right now! Wow. Looks like I missed the big fall drop.

I’m actually apprehensive about winter. I think my body has gotten used to the heat.

Was pretty lucky with traffic during the 500 miles of driving this week. But the 10 miles to the airport this afternoon took 45 minutes. Ugh.

I’m in Boone, NC to visit my daughter. I have been here before to learn how to snowboard those many years ago (see ice in the dictionary).

Pretty nice right now, 78F compared to Charlotte and Bedford at 90F.

Within 25 yards of me there is a pub, a bike shop and an Orvis store. In fact the bike shop is in the floor below the Orvis. Not bad.

Oh, and a poster for a Bluegrass concert.

Yes, I’m at the pub.