I went swimming in the ocean today! Sam too- he's a natural, when he sees the white foam of the wave coming he turns towards shore- a true surfer dog!

For me overcoming some fear- hadn't been all the way on since a wave snatched me off a rock and smacked me onto another. In those seconds I thought crap! I'm gonna be dragged out to sea. But luckily I realized to crawl sideways so when the next wave hit I was pushed up the beach, not into another rock. I only got cut up on my legs, and not too bad, but the fear stayed. That was 2 years ago. It was the first time I really understood the power of the ocean, and I've been swimming in it all my life. In fact as a drunk ( I quit drinking 11 years ago- now a friend of Bill W), anyway once when I was totally bombed and on a 110 foot yacht off the coast of China in the Sea of Snakes...I jumped off the boat!! ha ha I was like a cartoon character - the ones who run across the top of the water! When I hit the cold water I was instantly sober and aware I was in the ocean- and not near land! I got back in that huge boat so fast!!! This yacht was so big it had 4 speedboats on it that they lowered to take little side trips I guess...anyway it was the biggest boat I'd ever been on. It was for work, needless to say there was much talk about the crazy American woman who jumped off the boat. That was in the early 90's and you just never know what impact your actions an have. In the 2006 I got another job traveling to Thailand and the Operations director at a dinner told us about this crazy American woman who jumped off the company boat of this company he used to work for,....soooo...we chatted since his old company was a company I had worked with...anyway we had a good laugh and he understood why I was not drinking at dinner. ha ha. Not sure about now, but in the late 80's, 90's and early 2000's, business in Asia always includes a lot of dinners, drinks, drinks, etc But the truth is when I went back to Thailand sober, I really got into seeing the sights. I was blessed by a monk who came to do the blessing at the company. I got to know a couple of my counterparts well, and one guy, Sarote, and I are still friends, email & Facebook. And he came to the states once and it was cool to host him.

So anyway I started my day with a swim in the ocean with my husband and my dog. I love love love my husband for not pushing me, we've been here a month and all I've done is play on the shore. Well really altho' it hasn't been raining, the ocean has not been too inviting. Huge logs and debris some days, choppy waves other days. But it's been beautiful for days now. Everardo went swimming last evening on our way to our friends. I was laughing cause I had put my suit in my bag at the last minute thinking of their pool. We did end up in the pool, but I was looking at the waves, so this morning, and not in a suit- just my shorts and tshirt, I DID IT! I was nervous at first. That incident with the rocks really scared me. I probably should have gone back in right away, but I hadn't even ventured down to the part of the beach with no rocks, wow what was I thinking?? I was down here with my girlfriend and when it happened she was sitting with her back to me reading a book way up on the beach. ha ha I was screaming and she didn't hear me. Some other people further up than her told me later they saw me get knocked down initially and thought I was ok. Then when it happened again and I started getting dragged, they stood up. Again I was a cartoon character with my fingernails dragging in the sand- the undertow was strong. What happened was I was walkin around the rocks to see, then I saw the wave coming and thought i don't know whats on the other side so I'll just press against the rock, let the water hit me, then keep going, HA HA HA HA The water ripped me off that rock like I was tissue paper, first bloody scrape to the knew, then banged onto a smaller rock, scrape scrape, then I tried to stand up and go up, but the next wave just banged me again, somewhere in there I  broke my toe, but realized to crawl sideways away from the rocks. You know there's a moment in the waves, every so often when it quiets just for a moment, no wave...I don;t know how many seconds it was but I crawled so when the next one hit I was not thrown into a rock but pushed up the beach. By then those people were halfway to me...hmmmm would I have been saved??

Then as I stumbled up the beach I was crying; Veronica still hadn't turned around, the lady with those people got to me, and I had wiped my face after touching my legs so I smeared blood all over my face ha ha so she was pretty scared too. Anyway 2 years later I have a small scar on my knee and my toe is always sore, the one next to the big toe so it's pretty protected ya know? But I respect the sea. I understand the power of water. I love to sit and watch the waves hit the rocks on my beach. The tides
are amazing, the water is different every day. I love it and am so grateful to be living next to it and with it!