Scuba

Don’t pass on the PS.

SCUBA

See the P.S.

People who have been reading my musings will know how much I enjoy my Way Back Machine (Her nickname is TARDIS. It was a hand me down From Uncle Who.)

It can, on occasion, stop during Uncomfortable and Painful situations.

Take a deep breath and give a sigh. There is no pain in this short narrative. There are, however, two very uncomfortable situations.

Let me explain:

UCSF has across the street the Millbury Student Union. A wonderful place of PingPong, Book Store, Cafeteria and Swimming Pool.

It was 1971. I took lessons to be a certified SCUBA diver. My teacher was a San Francisco Fireman. He eventually became Fire Chief of San Francisco. He got into a disagreement with then Mayor Art Agnos. The Score, Agnos 6, Fire Chief 2.

(Sorry, Serious Digression.)

TARDIS takes me to ~1976. I became good friends with a Taxi Driver, Peter S. He was a SCUBA diver himself. I can’t remember how I met Peter. It was not in a taxi. It was probably while SCUBA diving.

South of Monterey is the beautiful Monastery Beach. Immediately East of the Beach, nestled in the hills, is a Monastery.

I think this may be how the Beach got it’s name?

Peter and I went there to dive and spearfish. Peter had a nice speargun. I had a Hawaiian Sling. This is a 6 foot pool with three sharp prongs and an elastic strap (Google: Hawaiian Sling).

Here is the scene. I speared a nice looking fish that was just about eatin’ size.

All of a sudden there was a very large shadow that became a beast which grabbed ‘My’ fish.

I was wearing a wet suit. At that frozen moment in time, my wet suit became wetter and warmer. To this day I’m so happy that my suit was only warmer and wetter in the front. If you catch my drift.

It was not “Jaws”! It was a mother seal stealing “My” fish for her pups (This is my assumption). Apparently, a mama seal can move much faster in the water than a Polish/American dental surgeon.

That was my first and only fish I had ever speared.

Mama followed me all morning at a comfortable 9-10 feet away.

Now: The Rest of The Story

We were hungry. Ocean swimming is very tiring. Food was the #1 priority.

We go to the world’s famous Monterey Fisherman’s Wharf.

Neither of us knew any restaurants on the Wharf.

Found a nice Italian restaurant. I can’t remember the name ? We each ordered different dishes.

Peter and I had the exact same reaction with our first bite. The polite description would be: “Gag me with a Spoon”. We left and I don’t remember where we went. I needed something, anything which would wash that taste out of my mouth.

Two Years after our spear diving adventure we went back to Monastery Beach. The faithful Hawaiian Sling in my hand.

I didn’t catch any fish that day. A large seal came up to me and followed me all morning. It may have been one the ‘pups’ now two years older?

After we finished we were hungry. Fortunately we were fairly close to the world’s famous Monterey Fisherman’s Wharf.

I saw a restaurant that looked OK. Peter and I order two different dishes. We were really looking forward to great seafood.

At our first bite I realized that I had chosen “The Restaurant from Hell”

Song of the Day: “The Fish Cheer” Country Joe and the Fish

PS:

I cannot speak for you. The splash down yesterday of the four astronauts made my head hurt. The engineering, the sheer brilliance and precision that is impossible for me to imagine. After hundreds of thousands of miles they land within 1 mile of the target.

They splashed down at the exact moment they said they would. 7 minutes after the hour. 5:07 PM PST.

I contacted my friend Rob E. to share my excitement.

Last night he wondered how long it will take for someone to claim this was fake.

The answer is 15 hours. This AM, on Substack, I saw a video of a young man claiming the mission was fake. He tried to show how it was faked.

I think there is a serious challenge for some individuals to accept there are others who are much more intelligent than they themselves are.

Song of the Day: “Space Cowboy” by Steve Miller