let it splash...

When the ocean surges, don't let me
just hear it. Let it splash inside my chest!
~Rumi

Kuroshio Sea - 2nd largest aquarium tank in the world - (song is Please don't go by Barcelona) from Jon Rawlinson on Vimeo.

via worldhum

I can't even express how deeply it thrills me to realize that these creatures are swimming below and around me when I paddle on the ocean--thus, I need poetry (and photography)! The ocean itself seems a kind of creature, its cycles and rhythms are at both completely regular and completely unpredictable. Added to that is the beauty of all that finds home within its depths...

On Saturday, for the first time, I tested out a waterproof camera setup to take out with me on my outrigger canoe. I snapped pics of pelicans and shorebirds, and the various landmarks that are part of the Newport channel. And here's me, on my boat*:


I wish the ocean was as clear and blue in the Newport area as it is in the Japanese aquarium captured above. I rarely ever actually "see" anything swimming in the water except for the trash floating on the surface. So that's one reason I'm really thrilled to be headed to the South Pacific in a few months--to see some really clear blue water. Of course the other reason for my excitement is that I'll be competing in my first international outrigger competition. And that, my friends, is as amazing and unbelievable as life can be...


*We rigged up a sweet steering system for my canoe so I can maneuver with just one foot pedal.