Wednesday, 28 March 2007

Beautiful blues and a gentle stingray




I was told the water in the Caribbean was beautiful, but I never imagined how turquoise it would be. If I painted what I saw, it would look fake! I returned from Grand Cayman Monday evening, after 4-5 days of snorkeling bliss with Dave and his parents. We had a wonderful time and stayed at a beautiful condo compliments of Dave's mom's boss. Dave and I snorkeled as much as possible in the short time we had and saw every fish imaginable, a couple sea turtles, a barracuda, a squid and stingrays. All the physio I have been doing payed off as I was able to enjoy the water sights fully. I'll post some more pictures once I get them - here are a couple that show the George Town harbour and Dave at the beach where we snorkeled.

One morning we took a boat trip out to the barrier reef where the coral and plant life was amazing. The last stop of the trip was at Stingray City, a sandbar area that dozens of stingrays hang out at. (These are not the same kind that killed the crocodile guy in case you were worried). You literally stand on the sand bar and wait for the stingrays to say "hello" as they brush their rubbery flaps up onto you! I even got to hold a docile female stingray in my arms, with her blinking at me the whole time. It was truly something I'd never imagined doing, but was so incredible, I'd recommend it to anyone.

Seeing the Caribbean water was on my "life list" - but as I crossed that one off, I discovered the stingrays. That really opened my eyes to the significant potential of the life list - if you proactively try to cross off items on the list, you will no doubt discover things you never even knew of to add to the list in the first place. They're kind of hidden treasures you only get to by making the effort to cross off items on your known list. I am curious what other hidden treasures I'll find as I continue on with my list!

My return to Calgary meant blood work of course, and physio. There were a few fluctuations in my blood results, but the doctors will simply monitor results next week and want me to continue the chemo as planned. I feel quite well and my scars from the surgery really liked the salt water and ocean air again...funny how both the mind and body like those islands.
Dad and I leave for Las Vegas Saturday and will see Elton John and Cirque de Soleil when we are there. I'm pretty excited about Elton John and plan to listen to his music on my IPod over the next few days to prepare!
Hope your week is going well...let me know what you've discovered!
Tricia