Page 277: light in the trees

When I was in college, there were enormous willow trees across campus. At the end of one long semester, I laid down under one of those trees. The breeze caught all those long slender leaves and caused them to dance; twinkling and shimmering with light. The color and translucence of them has always remained with me.

Today, we went for a swim in the Great Pacific. We swam past the break, sporting our huge snorkeling flippers and then paralleled the coast for roughly twenty minutes. JE began to get seasick just as we were finishing and ended up loosing part of his lunch in the ocean. Poor guy; but his only option was to keep on swimming.

In honesty, it was a bit unnerving to swim, head down, eyes wide open in my goggles, over huge beds of kelp and sea grass. I think, perhaps, it is an inherent fear that prevails at such times; and that most of us are afraid of seaweed. There is a fear of the unknown and unseen. As I swam, the sun shone through the partially clear water onto the beds of seaweed, lighting it and making it shine transparently. I spotted several small stingray as well as two that were about a yard across--gliding gently through the water. A small leopard shark swam beneath me and I saw several schools of fish, barely seen as their color matched the sand perfectly.

As I was swimming to shore, I marveled about my fear--that I am so afraid of assumed dangers that may be around me, but also so afraid that I could miss the wonderful things by not looking. It is a good analogy for my outlook on life. May as well live it well, and watch for the amazing things. There is far more to have appreciation for, than to fear.

Tomorrow marks the one year anniversary of my bike tour. I think I will add my personal journal and some stories from my experience on my blog--not sure if that will be here or on the original.

Plan for the week:

Tuesday: AM: Run--long 6.5 miles
PM: Swim Long 2500 yds
Dinner: Baked eggs with Swiss chard and good bread

Wednesday: AM: weight sets/Nike training
PM: Bike--recovery--easy does it
Dinner:

Thursday: Run--recovery 5 miles
PM: Swim--speed--48 laps, every 4 intervals
Dinner:

Friday AM: Yoga
PM: Bike--Long
Dinner:

Saturday: AM Run--speed work 5 miles
Dinner:

I'll finish this tomorrow, my head is spinning. Sleep used to be one of my best talents. It seems to have departed. Last night was much the same as the previous; laid in bed until 4:30. Except I woke at 6:30 fully alert and unable to get back to sleep. Sucks...