anika in saipan

On Friday morning John called me from work to ask if I’d like to go out with them to do reef surveys. Of course I said yes. They picked me up 15 minutes later. On the way John saw some guys getting ready to trim some of the Flame Trees that lead up to the construction site of the new Korean Buddhist temple. There had been some controversy when the crew had “trimmed” the first time because they essentially cut down half of the trees, which was not part of their permit in the first place. So John had to do a little investigation before we could continue on to Wing Beach.

John was concerned that I might get burnt since I’m still so pale, so instead of actually helping with the surveys, I was given one important assignment. My arduous task was to wade out with him to the spot where he would start the line of the survey and mark the location with the garmin location marker and then wade back to shore, all the while making sure to keep the device bone dry.

Task completed I was left to my own devices. I carefully applied sunblock, and went back into the water for some recreational snorkeling. I let out an actual sigh of contentment when I submerged myself to the neck for the first time. I’d forgotten just how lovely it feels to be surrounded by warm water. No shock of cold. No “getting used” to the temperature. It felt cool, refreshing, relaxing and inviting all in one.

I bobbed around in the water for a while (I didn’t bring my fins, and it was shallow enough to maneuver without them).