Today I completed five hours of scuba training in the pool. After
several hours in the classroom receiving the majority of book
information and passing quizzes with 100s, I figured that I was really
ready to plunge into the water and begin my underwater adventures. I was
only partially right.
Today showed this relatively athletic Average Joe just how difficult
diving can be. I remembered the basic rules well enough. The concept of
breathing continually is continually stressed in training, making it an
easy one to remember. And some of the harder skills like removing my
Buoyancy Control Device (the vest that holds the tank and weights)
underwater were not too difficult.
The exercises that whacked my confidence were the ones involving the
mask underwater: starting with clearing a little water from the mask,
moving on to full flooding of the mask and clearing it, and finally,
removal & reinstallation of the mask after one minute of maskless
swimming.
Now I realize that this will get better in time and with practice, but I
have not figured out my fascination with the mask being installed and
dry on the inside. It is my underwater blankey that keeps me from
breathing in water through my nose. It is the giver of sight. It absence
drops my mad confidence to a whimpering nut case. After swallowing water
following its planned removal, I instinctively shot myself up to the
surface choking and coughing up my throat.
Take away my air source temporarily, have me monkey with equipment all
day, but do not take away my blankey.
Part II
Have you ever started a new job and worked hard to learn needed skills?
Do you remember starting a new series of learning that resulted in a
flood of new concepts streaming into your brain within a short period? I
have had this experience twice in my life. In both cases, it was after
taking a new job. I worked tirelessly to absorb all the information that
my brain could handle as quickly as possible. Nights during those times
were filled with going-to-bed-times when the brain replays the day. I
suspect this is the brain's time to stuff the day's activities into
long-term memory.
Tonight is such a night. The experience of diving, even in a nine-foot
pool, was so new that I am unable to actually fall asleep thanks to my
cerebral hijacking of needed sleep. It is now after midnight. It is time
to end this penning and reattempt a plunge into sleep.
Yawn.
