Diving Discoveries

What. A. Day. 

   Jeffrey invited me and Chris to assist with two Discover Scuba classes of Boy Scouts (17 kids!), and then a third class with a mom and her son, and another family of 5 Nigerian kids. The scouts were wonderful of course, and all did a great job. But I got to spend more individual time with and I especially enjoyed the final class of the day.

   The two girls weren't so comfortable in the water, so we had to get over that hurdle before teaching them to dive. At first, their instinct was to grab my arm and hold on for dear life, sometimes dragging me under water in the process, or nearly knocking my regulator out. But over the couple of hours that we were in the pool, I watched their fear melt away.

   By the end of the day, they each took me by the hand and wanted me to jump into the pool with them! Although they never dove in the deep end, it was magic to see them just playing in the water without a trace of fear. One even had me pull up a Rihanna song ("Stay") on my iPhone and the three of us sang it together in the pool as we were swimming around.

   What really impressed upon me about the five siblings was that none of them were especially confident in the water at first. But also, none of them were so fearful that they refused to try. It was like it never entered their mind to not try it--despite their clear trepidation. Their parents weren't here, and they had never met me before. They were in an unfamiliar and potentially risky situation, yet placed all their trust in a stranger. I think that's fairly remarkable for one individual, much less five all at once. It made me wonder about their parents and what amazing people they must be, raising such fun, joyful, confident young adults.

   I just about had tears in my eyes when the two girls came over to me and gave me big smiles and even bigger hugs as we were all getting ready to leave. It is so empowering and so fulfilling to not only have fun together, but also to help them try something they might not have otherwise.

   Cuties Sam and Tia, two naturals in the water!

   I don't know how on earth I had energy left after 5+ hours of diving and kid-wrangling to stop at the grocery store and then to come home and make dinner, but I hadn't eaten anything all day, so it was a good idea. Here's what I whipped up:

   Broiled miso black cod, sautéed brussels sprouts, and spiced, roasted carrots and sweet potatoes. I even cooked up some plain sweet potatoes just for the dogs, and they enjoyed them with a dollop of plain yogurt on top, like a real dessert. As my food was cooking I made up a double batch of Michele's special protein nuggets, which are a great breakfast on the go, or snack, or dessert, or anything you want!

   And you know what I want? To go to sleep!