I put on my snorkel mask. Does anyone look good in these? The pool at the Y has no fish, turtles, or sea plants. But it’s the easiest place for me to get into shape for January’s trip to Hawaii.
Our Road Scholar group will be snorkeling in Lanai. “Thousand foot sea cliffs line the shore and ancient volcanic plugs sit both above and below the water surface as host to a wide diversity of marine life.”
We’ll "skiff to Kealakekua Bay, where Captain Cook was slain in 1779, for some of the island’s best snorkeling." Presumably the current residents have gotten over their animosity.
But here’s the most exciting snorkeling we’ll do: “anchor at an offshore location for a thrilling night snorkel with Giant Pacific Manta rays. Underwater lights attract plankton, which in turn attract feeding Manta Rays.”
So it’s not just getting my muscles in shape. I need to work on the relaxing rhythm of breathing in and out through my snorkel, remembering how to blow out water that comes in the snorkel tube. I want to use my underwater camera without flailing around in semi-panic.
Awkward at first, I begin to meditate on the gift of breathing, in and out. In... Out... I am thankful that my eyes can see through the water, that my arms and legs can do a strong frog kick. I snorkel 30 minutes before the Water Arthritis class. I’ll gradually increase that time. My goal is to become so comfortable and confident that I will be able to concentrate fully on what I’ll see in Hawaii’s waters.
We’ll also be kayaking along Hawaii’s shores. A year or two ago I kayaked in Florida while looking for manatees. My life-long strong arms helped me keep up with experienced folks as I began mastering kayak skills.
When we went to Jekyll Island in February, after about 10 minutes of crashing into shore bushes, muscle memory kicked in.
I’ll have to learn all over again since I can’t practice between now and
January.
On the other hand, I’ll be able to hike a lot before I go. Fall and Winter are terrific here in Georgia. The woods are beautiful and the weather is cool. In Hawaii we'll climb slippery slopes. I'm thinking of getting telescoping hiking poles.
NO DEMENTIA: For those of you who read my last blog, I’m glad to report my psychologist and physician both agree: The Big Forget was an age-old reaction to extreme stress. Compartmentalizing memory. PTSD reaction. So it was in my head but just the normal fruitcake response I have now and then. Whew!
Quotes from this Sunday morning's UUFA order of service:
Exploration is what you do when you don’t know what you’re doing. — Neil deGrasse Tyson
In wisdom gathered over time I have found that every experience is a form of exploration. — Ansel Adams
Turns out I have a prejudice against adventures I don’t choose for myself. I was happily spending time deciding where I want to go and what I want to do in my special year of 2016. On June first I’ll be 3/4ths of a century old and want to have some exotic adventures. Even reading about possibilities is exhilarating.
I want to start off the year with a bang so I looked at Road Scholar and Hurtigruten programs for January. This’ll sound weird but these two programs appealed to me:
A Hurtigruten trip to Antarctica (penguins!) and
A boat trip around some Hawaiian Islands, including snorkeling, hiking, and kayaking.
I love cold weather and a certain amount of adversity. But the physically challenging Road Scholar Hawaiian trip is a few thousand dollars cheaper. So after breathing deeply I forked over $5600 for Hawaii. This removes a big chunk from my savings account — the account which is supposed to be for emergencies or health problems in my old(er) age. Suddenly I’ve got two new worry lines between my eyes!
I have a bit of physical training to do in the next two months. I’ll increase my water exercise and add more walking and hiking which will be fun since the Fall weather is perfect for that. And increase my knowledge about volcanoes and how they create islands. I already did some glacier walking near Icelandic volcanoes and learned how long it takes for soil and plants to be created and grow after an eruption — very long. But Iceland is newer than Hawaii.
I’m procrastinating about describing the second adventure I might be on — the one I did not choose.
To offset the damaged brain I have after four concussions and hemiplegic migraines, I learn new and difficult things. This year I am trying to learn how to set up a blog that is fun (and possibly educational) for other people to read. It’s also excellent practice in writing, finding the right words. My passive vocabulary (recognizing words I read) is still excellent. Coming up with the words from scratch, however, is not easy for me. I can enjoy Sudoku because of the logic, but Crosswords are way too frustrating!
I was working on a new blog describing how I came up with a Plan B Adventure in Portland when my Plan A trip to Hood River, Oregon became seriously uncomfortable.
It took me nearly a week to explain that philosophically. I didn’t want to be too specific about what went wrong with Plan A because another person was involved. When I’d worked on it enough, I selected a few photos to add. Then I went to Google Blogger to start adding the new blog.
I almost went into cardiac arrest with a giant Brain Freeze. I had already posted a blog like that September 7th. Jeez!
This is not like forgetting a name, or failing to buy something at the store. Writing that blog had been a time-consuming and complicated activity and I’d forgotten the whole bloody thing!
First thought: “I have the beginning stages of dementia.” This is not an adventure I want. I know people have written books on their personal mental decline but that is not a goal of mine. Crap, crap, crap!
When I calmed down, I figured that on the plus side, it means the $5600 adventure is a good choice for January. I should have as many exciting adventures as possible while I can think and move. Older, wise friends reassure me of that.
Then I looked at when I posted that earlier blog: September 7, immediately after the stressful time in Hood River. Maybe that stress effected my memory. Or maybe it’s because I was still recovering from Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever from a summer tick bite.
Okay, I’ll make an appointment with a counselor who knows me and see my neurologist. I could be reassured or … What?
Fortunately I had a massage scheduled for the day after this discovery with Elizabeth, who does healing activities with color and light. I’m not much of a woo-woo person myself, but have benefited from energetic activities my friends can do. She looked in my eyes, held my hands, and said, “You’ve had a big shock, haven’t you? I already picked out a color to use even before you told me what happened.” I became a little teary but felt much better afterwards.
Then at church this morning we read and sang about not being alone when we have problems. Tears were running down my face. I hate that!
I will further investigate whether the big memory loss was an anomaly. And will get some cranial-sacral work done by Wanda, who has already done good things for my head.
In many ways I am such a lucky person to have so many resources for
healing. My house mate, Toni, and I just hiked one hour at
Heritage Park. Walking is good for your brain.
I made two videos about the Plan B days:
Lan Su Chinese Garden https://youtu.be/Dt_hwh-DLqg
Two Perfect Portland Parks https://youtu.be/_F_qkGmyDW8
When we went to Jekyll Island in February, after about 10 minutes of crashing into shore bushes, muscle memory kicked in.
I’ll have to learn all over again since I can’t practice between now and
January. 
