Scuba Lessons...

You, dear reader, most likely think this blog entry should be about the wonderful world of scuba lessons and all the interesting things you can learn from Time and Depth Charts and the dangers of nitrogen narcosis and decompression sickness...

But guess what... it's not!

You should know me better than that...

No... my scuba lessons are the stuff you didn't know you needed to know, the *really* important stuff...

Like...

animal crackers make friends... everybody will want them and they'll all revert back to being 5 year olds.  I've never seen so much excitement about animal crackers.

pick your buddy well... if they don't turn your air back on for your after turning it off for the lesson, you probably don't want to keep them around for the long haul of the class.

while rain and scuba mix, thunderstorms and scuba don't... thunder doesn't sound like dump trucks, you're gonna get a little freaked laying in the middle of the lake listening to the thunder and watching lighting overhead.  Shore is a nice place to be...

panic happens... just breathe deep and watch the bubbles.  Bubbles make everything better.  And just remember, you're not the only one who panics.

if you play paper, rock, scissors underwater with your buddy while you're waiting for other people to finish stuff... don't laugh when you win.  If you laugh, water seeps in your mask and then you have to clear it... again... for the zillionth time.

if you know you're gonna have to put your wetsuit back on later to get back in the water... don't take it off to begin with.  Really.  Seriously.  Don't.  It's way too hard to put back on and you'll only be that much colder.

failure is an option... it's not the best option, but it is an option, because it just means you can come back another day to finish it up... though is it really failure?  or just conceding defeat for a day?

being able to take scuba in order to share a class situation with your son is a priceless opportunity... driving back and forth to the lake with him sleeping in the seat next to me... having him tell me I didn't do too badly and I almost got it and I'll get it next time, is really nice praise... spending time with him before he leaves for the Marine Corps is time that I will cherish for life...

scuba's fun... you should all try it... just not during a thunderstorm