2017

The excitement for grouper opening started a few weeks ago when my brother in law and I started discussing our plans. There was talk of scouting on Sunday and taking Monday through Wednesday off to maximize our time on the water. We would connect with our friends Lazaro and Chris and we were hopeful that we would have a good opening like last year. As usual, we talked timing, accommodations and weather forecasts. After talking about it for about a week, Lazaro told us to forgo the logistics and stay with him as his place would be empty (with the exception of himself).  We gladly accepted his generous invitation.

Disclaimer: No matter what I do or write, it is NEVER a good idea to dive alone. I do know better, but I'm old and stubborn (no excuses, just stating facts). No matter how cautious I am with staying in shallow depths, watching currents and waves, it's extremely dangerous to dive much less spearfish alone. The possibilities for life threatening situations are too numerous to count, so please don't follow my very bad examples.

Since October of last year, the weather has been pretty disagreeable, at least on the weekends. Week after week, I would watch forecasts that predict calm wind and seas for Wednesday but every week, those forecasts would turn ugly just in time for the weekend. So after suffering since October of last year and accumulating too much vacation time at work, I decided that the very next weekday that showed promise would be mine. As luck would have it, this past week had just one of those days.…

It's not often that my blogs deviate from my favorite hobby, but my thoughts lately have been with friends and family that have been dealing with loss of one kind or another during the holiday season. This holiday season in particular seems to have been especially laden with loss for many that I care about. A few years ago, I lost my dad close to the holidays so I feel like I can relate to my friends and loved ones that lose people close to their hearts during the time of year when pretty much everyone else is celebrating. It's hard to celebrate life and new possibilities with the coming of a new year when the life of a cherished loved one is slipping away and all you want is for every good remaining moment to last a lifetime, if only in your memory.…