With A Little Help From My Friends

Oh, I get by with a little help from my friends
Mm, I get high with a little help from my friends
Mm, gonna try with a little help from my friends

Beatles ~ John Lennon and Paul McCartney

I have been quiet lately….maybe you noticed….hey….maybe not….. As some of you know, I fractured my back and things have been…….less than fun.

Well, guess what……..I’m baaack….kinda…..with a little help from my friends.

My doctor told me I couldn’t lay around, it is problematic for me, take my brace and move around he tells me. What do you expect me to do, I ask? His response….Walk…..ride a bike, you won’t be graceful so don’t fall off…swim…swimming is good, it takes the pressure off your spine, you don’t even have to wear the brace to swim. Hmmmmm……. With a little help from my friends….

Frnak knew what he was in for, but he volunteered anyway. He deserves a medal.

We were meeting at Dutch this morning, down by the peninsula and as I drove down with my gear, I ran into…and nearly over our own Grand Master E. I backed up traffic a bit as we talked, but a quick hug and good luck and I was off. Frank had set up along the fence, close to the dock. Shortest walk for both of us.

As Frank helps me unload my car, I noted that I came in an SUV with both seats down and the car filled front and back, only brought one tank mind you, and still looked like a bomb went off and 3 divers exploded. I had to open three doors and the lift gate to get everything out. Frank, on the other hand, comes in a sedan, with 2 sets of doubles and all his gear and he still has room for a family of 4. This always amazes me.

He moves my rig down to the water and floats it and I walk down. This isn’t bad, I can do this, this can work. As Frank returns with his gear, I step off the platform and slip into my harness midwater. When I first took open water and we did all those don and doffs in the pool, I thought, when on gods earth will I ever need to do this…..little did I know.

I was quickly buckled in and the time had come to descend. As we slowly slipped beneath the surface I was a little nervous and had to remember not to hold my breath. But…..but…..nothing….absolutely nothing….it felt good….really good……this was going to work!

We turned and headed out for the old plane. As we finned along I looked down and the algae covering the sand formed a tan and green argyle carpet below us. I looked for some fish to poke but none were around. We came to the kitchen sink and Frnak stopped to wash his hands before moving along past the crane, or maybe it was the tanker and then telephone pole and then the trees, this time covered in a veil of flowing yellow algae making them look like something out of a scary movie. They are always my favorite part. And then we were up at the old plane. But the viz was horrific here and we turned to move on, under and around the helicopter and over the bus and a then a boat and a lone ten pound gold fish swam by at the bottom. I was feeling good but it was cold and I was diving wet and we headed in. On our hang Frank searched diligently for crayfish to entice some of the locals hanging under the platform over but none were to be found.

At the platform I slipped out of my rig and Frank snagged it and still wearing his gear he carried it up to the tables. I was sure he would be singing soprano with all that weight but he was a trooper.

We had a pleasant surface interval talking diving, as divers often do. And then…...the rain came…with the thunder…..and more rain……but it was quick and the skies dried up and the sun came out…..and we were ready to dive again.

My tanks were floating at the dock when I arrived. I could get used to this. I was geared up and ready when Frnak and his gear arrived. Hmmmm….First one ready again…..just like old times : )

This time we were going fish poking and headed out to the island. Here among the lake grass the blue gills nest and they are very territorial. These fish form bowl like indentations in the thick plants on the bottom and each bowl contained a huge fish or two “protecting” his space. Fish pokey heaven. Frank sent me in first to see if the fish “were biting”. They were and we amused ourselves for a while playing tag with the neighborhood tough guys and looking about.

We then moved on to the helicopter again, with a quick swim through and past the bus and around the plane and onto the wall. We were going to check out what was over this way at the wall between the student side and the peninsula. In case you are curious….. the answer is……nada. But it was a nice relaxing swim, though a little on the chilly side and so we headed on up.

Apparently, Mr. Ernie had a little talk with Frnak before I arrived this morning and tried to get him to “make my retractors disappear”. Thanks to my plight, Frank took pity on me and left them alone. He figured I already had enough problems. Thank you Frank. And Rookman…..I am getting 3 more for my birthday….just for your class.

The quote of the day may turn out to be…..”Don’t squeeze me, my name isn’t Charmin”, but that is another story.

I can do this again….this is good…..good dive buddies are good. Thanks Frank.