I like swimming through surge-channels, feeling and resisting the force of the water, wondering how it must be for an otter or fish to live in the midst of this liquid medium. When my resistance fails, when my kicking doesn't matter, and I'm shoved deep into the crevices and crannies of the rocks, I'm not unhappy; rough handling is part of the deal, and the wetsuit's padding helps against the sharp edges of barnacles and mussels, the spines of urchins. Sometimes, my resistance works and I hover, balanced amidst the vortex. Of course, then another wave breaks, and another. Thrown about or poised, I don't ignore my surroundings. I'll mimic the fish or the limpet, as needed, or with the scant grace at my command, embrace in succession the fluidity of the kelp, the stolidity of the mussels with their byssal thread anchors, and the reflexive exuberance of the otters and seals, true marine mammals.Underwater tidepooling: I move against and through the surge funneled by the wall-like rocks, kicking firmly and angling downward beneath the fullness of the sea's flexing to avoid being shoved and thrown like mere flotsam. I dive below that surface, but the shallowness here keeps me in the surge, which I like, which is why I'm playing in among these rocks rather than out in deeper water. Submerging here intensifies that sense of being held in the water's palm, that sense of being otterlike, for a moment, being merman instead of mere Matt.
This was a rather mild day at the beginning of summer, neither hot nor cold, cloudy but clearing. I was swimming along the shore near Coral Cove in Pacific Grove with camera, disposable, and curiosity, indispensable. What did Dictionary Johnson say? "Curiosity is one of the permanent and certain characteristics of a vigorous mind."
That quotation, these simple photos with their otter-pov, and the experiences of that day (and so many other days like that one) all please me, but my words here (despite revisions) feel forced, still too static and rigid. I'll have to work on that. A more current kelp-bath is called for to refresh my memory, to invoke the salt of the mer-muse.
