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Swimming With DolphinsFebruary 9, 1997 Has there ever been a time in your life when you have felt so protected and so safe, no matter what your surroundings were, everything would be just fine? Well, on February 9th, I had an incredible experience in that "comfort zone." As a belated Christmas gift to Liz, I decided to take her down to the Florida Keys to go swimming with the dolphins or angels as I now like to call them. It was an experience that both of us had always talked about, but one that we never got around to fulfilling. Now, I have lived down in Miami for two years and have been invited by my roommate to go down to the Keys several times and have managed to come up with an excuse to get out of going. I guess it's time I publicly apologize to my roomie. His name is Scott also so, "Scott, I am sorry and I love you, man!" I hope he and his girlfriend, Cristienne, get a chance to go swimming with the angels someday.Before we get our feet wet with the dolphins, I thought I would share with you another event that evolved shortly before our swim with the dolphins. However, I must warn you that this was all Liz' doing. She has been yearning to go parasailing for a long time now and thought that there was no time like the present to explore this burning desire. So she looks at me and says, "Let's go parasailing!" I said, "Sure, why not?" It's important that you know that I did not have a clear grasp of what parasailing is all about. I did not know that it could be very dangerous, nor did I have any concept of how high 400 feet was. Well, guess what? I took a refresher course in Geometry 101 very quickly. Anyway, here we are, sitting on a boat, getting strapped into a harness-like apparatus, and being given instructions on what to do and of course, not to do. So just before Liz and I venture out to the tail end of the boat to be launched into the air she says to me, "On a scale of one to ten, how scared are you?" I reply calmly, "About a 2." About ten seconds unfold and I correct myself, "About an 8." Finally, I got a good sense of what was about to happen. Of course, she laughed at me, never seeing me so scared in the year we have known each other. The countdown begins and finally, we are hoisted into the air and both of us are screaming. O-kay, I was screaming a little louder! About ten minutes into our air voyage, we lost our nervousness. It was now simply a time to get closer to the heavens and soak in the beauty of our panoramic view. What a peaceful place to be. Never before had I felt so close to my father. I prayed to him and even yelled hello to him. Liz said a prayer as well. During this excursion, we even managed to belt out a unique version of Tom Petty's "Free-Falling." On the way down, Liz was preparing for her daredevil maneuver. She had been taught to hang upside-down to get her head wet when we ventured close enough to the water. Needless to say, Liz did her monkey routine and got drenched. Never believing that she would actually execute this stunt, I must say that I was very impressed. Check out the photos in the photo gallery! Back to the dolphins! Now, as we get our feet wet in some very cold salt-water I must first make you aware that the cute bottlenose dolphins with whom we swam are not on restaurant menus anywhere and are protected by law. The scrumptious dolphin you see on menus is an ugly flat-headed dolphin that looks nothing like Flipper! Anyway, after a 30-minute schooling on dolphins and their habits, we entered the water. Though I am in a wheelchair, I had to be the first one in the water to meet our dolphin friends, Conah and Buttons. Liz and two other people were part of this session as well. The dolphins' trainer told us that she was going to have the dolphins just brush by us to say hello and get a feel for us. That was our first encounter and one that I will never forget. Both dolphins were about 7 feet long and were so beautiful! Then each of us individually were told to go out to the middle of the pond, and execute a deadman's float which is simply lying flat on your back. When the trainer asked me to go out there, I told her that I did not think my legs would stay together because I could not move them. She suggested that we simply try it out. In this position, one of the dolphins would push your feet and move you across the water. So here comes Buttons who begins to push my feet. I look down to my toes as we travel through the water, and I see that one of my legs is beginning to drift away from the other one. Buttons stops and gentle nuzzles my foot back to the other one and proceeds with the journey. I melted. My heart just filled up with so much love for this creature. After my short voyage, the trainer was so touched by Buttons' actions that she sent the dolphin over to give me a kiss. Never before had I been so anxious to receive a kiss. O-kay maybe a couple of times before! It was definitely the largest mouth I had ever pressed my lips against! Liz was so anxious to get her kiss! Let's just say that the dolphin has never been the same since kissing Liz! My second kiss was quite humorous. Let me preface this by saying that the trainer has a whistle that she blew whenever she wanted to dolphins to come back to her. That being said, while I was kissing Buttons, the trainer blew her whistle. No response from Buttons. I put my arm around this beautiful mammal and continued to suck face. Let's just say that we are going steady now! I take her out for seafood all the time! Enough with the humor! Just for the record, Conah had a deep connection with Liz and Buttons fell head over heels for me! Why is this strange? Well, Conah is a female and Buttons is a male! Hey, this entire journey is about exploration, right? Please let me know if you would like any information about swimming with the dolphins (E-Mail chesney12@comcast.net). Liz and I are planning to attend "Dolphins Spirit Seminars" in Hawaii where they focus on the therapeutic benefits of this unique experience. Needless to say, swimming with angels is definitely healing for the mind, body, and soul! |
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