I think I know.
His throne is in the Heavens, though.
Yet he may see me swimming here.
Among the dolphins at the pier.
We awoke today to a torrential downpour. By the time we had finished our morning coffee, though, the only evidence of the rain was the dripping from the leaves and gutters. Today was Sandra's day to work on our taxes. For how is poor Donald Trump to have his chocolate cake at Mar a Lago if Sandra doesn't remit? At any rate, she wanted some peace and quiet, so I went out and filled the trunk with unwanted verbage (No! That's what you were hoping for.) Leaves, fronds and rubbish. That's the ticket. Me and my refuse headed off for the redoubtable transfer station. There after, I made my way to the village and parked in one of the available alternate spots. Illegal sounds so damn judgemental. Having secured parking, I gave the family bean counter a beep to let her know that I would be committing my flesh to the briny deep. She said, "Be careful." and returned to her accounts.
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| A Baptism at the King Kam. We can do it 50 times better. |
a collection of well heeled youths from the University of the Nations. With their spiritual advisor, they were participating in a baptism ceremony. You may recall that very beach was the location, only a few days previous, of Bo Campo's paddling memorial. What with King Kemahemeha's heiau and all, this is turning into quite the spiritual locale. I asked one of the handsome young men what was going on. When he told me that it was a baptism, I revealed to him one of my dreams:
I have a long standing fascination with the scene from O Brother, Where Art Thou? in which the trio, having just finished their repast of barbecued gopher, happens upon a white clad congregation singing Down in the River (to pray). I can imagine nothing better than a group of us standing in line on that very beach, dressed in white and singing this song. And, of course, in turn, getting baptized.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fztz_Vr9uHk
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| Six Dolphns, Kailua Pier, February 2019 |
Then all my sins would be washed away. Including that job that Sandra and I pulled at the Piggly Wiggly. If you want in, be sure to let me know. This may be a bit of a happening, so if you are an agnostic you are still welcome. And who knows? Maybe your sins will be washed away. Assuming you believe in sins.
Having concluded the religious segment of our morning's activities, I wandered back over to the Ironman side of the pier. As I was adjusting to the cold water, I couldn't help but notice that all my fellow beach enthusiasts were looking seaward at a group of small boats. I saw a splash and it was soon verified that a school of dolphins was swimming off the southwest corner of the pier.
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| Four Dolphins (five, actually) Kailua Pier, February 2019 |
I swam out, crossing under the swim line just after the second buoy. I passed over a large school of large scad, shepherded by black durgons, and then a large group of milkfish, for we were over sand. I got my bearings and verified that there was only twenty yards of open water between the outermost spot where my swim might usually finish and the nearest boat. In that stretch of no man's land there were actually a few like minded snorkelers. Soon I was passing tourists wearing inner tubes,
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| I'll have four dolphin sliders, two Barnacle IPAs, a Longboard and a Squirt. |
On this morning I had many encounters, but they all involved me diving my paltry ten feet to get close. The closest I got to a dolphin on the surface was just short of fifteen feet. Never the less, I had many wonderful looks and there was only a modest mob with which to contend. In this instance, because it was a fairly large pod, the number of dolphins and tourists was about the same, perhaps thirty of each.
I saw no mother and baby combinations, but I did see one dolphin with a common remora attached to his back. There were a few dolphins with scratches, but none with gaping wounds from cookie cutter sharks. Those lesions are truly gross and I was pleased both for the dolphins and myself.
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| Peacock Razorfish, Kailua Kona, 2019 |
One would have been justified in thinking that the day was over; we had had our treat. But one also needs to keep his eyes open. Near the fifth swim buoy, in about 20 feet of water, I saw something flopping around on the bottom. It had a singular way of wriggling and light brown vertical stripes. I was sure as I dove it that I was looking at a juvenile peacock razorfish. I've seen this fish just once before, in the shallows of the disappearing reef at Ho'okena.
Somehow my pictures don't catch the light brown of the vertical stripes. You can see the two occuli, outlined in turquoise if you use your imagination. And what about that long dorsal filament? This was a very cool fish. I watched him for about five minutes, diving him at least four times. He was deep enough that I didn't get within seven or eight feet. But he never spooked, never swam away.
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| Peacock Razorfish juvenile. Love those occuli. |
At that moment there was a lady of a certain age and her husband swimming right beside me. They were wearing those little blue fins, so one knew they were strong recreational swimmers. As such, the husband related in an accent redolent of the Canadian prairies, that seeing the dolphins was nice but really not unusual. Which is true. If I was out there swimming a mile or more, I would run into the dolphin pod regularly.
I asked, "Do you see that fish on the bottom? Its a razorfish. Super rare." In fact, I was pretty excited and I might have said super rare three or four times. They were only mildly interested. The gentleman gave it a cursory dive and the lady looked down from the surface. Which I guess was better than nothing. This casual interest shouldn't have surprised me; us fishwatchers are almost as rare as peacock razorfish.
Jeff
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