Two Thousand and Eight
Fireworks in Curacao
Sitting alone amongst a friendly a group of strangers,
Diving into the new day
Sunset divers my work,
Submerged into friendship
Surfaced as family.
January ended with an essential goodbye
As my Grandmother took her last rest.
Those last years drifting back to infancy,
In New Jersey we gathered to remember the memories she lost,
To smile and say goodbye.
February brought a diving rush,
A Valentines crush,
Seventy hour work weeks,
Filled with lonely exhaustion.
And then my fathers soothe,
Sharing my space
Enjoying comforts of home cooked meals.
Surprised by his relaxation
As I plunged him into my underwater world,
Using his thoughts and encouragement,
I bought tickets to Africa
March launched at the airport,
As I waved Dad goodbye,
And my crush returned.
Just a few weeks of romance,
Or so I thought.
Then a rush of company
Mom arrived,
We indulged in cuisine at night
I sunk her dive fear by day
And swam her through my world.
Becca followed,
With drinks, dancing and even a dive certification.
April rushed,
Not ready to leave my land house apartment
With my borrowed dogs,
Falling in love at the wrong time,
Countless plane tickets in the way.
A week at home,
Celebrating Cheyne’s life,
Helping Dad with surgery to help him see,
Showered in my girls,
For a crazy weekend of love, laughter and tears.
And then the goodbyes,
Too many to count.
May in the Seychelles,
Sailing on stunning yacht Erica
Embracing my solitude
While learning my need for socialization.
And yearning for his embrace.
I swam, walked, biked, and bussed around 5 islands,
Peaking into others lives,
I learned
June first we reunited,
An airport in Kenya began our next journey,
On our way to our new island home,
Completely shocked by Dar Es Sallam
A big city
And its poverty.
Arrived in Zanzibar, and shown our new village home,
Nungwi astonished us with its simplicity,
A small Muslim village,
No electricity,
Mud huts,
Happy children.
July we decided to leave,
Slow unhappy work,
Little money,
And a challenging every day existence.
Hundreds of applications sent,
Discouraged by the world seeming so small
Finally Mozambique answered,
Our first choice.
Zanzibar left its mark,
The sparkling turquoise sea,
Falling into beautiful reefs of dolphins and camouflaged creatures.
Stone town market
Every color burqa imaginable,
Covering everything,
Only leaving beautiful smiles.
August launched over waves
Swimming with whale sharks,
Getting cleaned with mantas,
While freezing in the Mozambican water.
Pensao family welcomed us,
A hostel home,
With a kitchen,
We cooked a lot,
Tipo engulfed us,
And we had fun
Septembers start
Changed my perspective . . . on everything,
I saw 8 humpback whales underwater,
A few days later I looked straight into the eye of another.
Once in a lifetime luck, I indulged 9 times that week.
The fear and excitement a reminder how small we are.
Tofo changed every day,
As people left and others came,
Friendships formed and disappeared quickly,
I got depressed,
Working hard and missing home.
October came with a decision to move again,
To a new house and
Thailand was calling,
We decided to answer.
Gave notice at work and bought tickets.
Our last month rushed by,
So many dives and tourists,
And 12 hour days,
Music, local food and parties.
November goodbyes,
In a rush with not enough hugs,
We drove south, through villages,
And into South Africa,
A safari of elephants, giraffes, lions, monkeys, rhinos, hippos, and more
Trampled us out of Africa.
We arrived in Thailand,
We met Blue Sky.
They sailed us around,
And we chose Ko Lanta.
Made a home, rented a motor bike, and found some work,
We were happy,
And the food was amazing.
December came with a shock,
Political unrest in Bangkok and the tourism halted
Worked stopped,
And we decided it was best to leave,
We ate as many banana leaves and curry as we could.
And rejoined Blue Sky.
Sailing south to Malaysia,
Christmas dinner in Koh Kraden,
Bright sunsets emerald caves and rocky nights,
Ending the year in Koh Lipe,
A sleepy island,
In sight of Malaysia,
And somewhere west,
The future.
And once again,
The year ends in a bang of colors.
Being towed on the kayak
Us and our Blue Sky Family
Sunset over Ko Kraden, our Christmas island
The Christmas group of strangers and fun
Blue Sky goodbye to Kraden
Our spot in Lipe
New Years Day
The light house in Langkawi
Langkawi harbor beauty
The boats
The monkey really liked the carrot
Russ and the Monkey, it really did love him
Ko Lipe beach
