[] underwater self []

Megan is a friend of mine that has knack for outdoor adventure.  She's the type of friend that will walk across the rotten, soggy fallen tree to "test it" for the rest of us waiting to cross the river.  She is usually right about everything nature, and so is her boyfriend.  He can spot an ant on a tree from miles away and can handle a canoe like nobodys business.  They are a great team. They are also gracious enough to invite me with them on their adventures.  If it weren't for them, kayaking would have never crossed my mind as something fun to do.  But it is.  Unlike the wild canoes I get into, the kayak is easily, completely self controlled.  Well, for the most part.  Megan is super good at it, while I am ok at it.  I have a way better time in the 'yak maneuvering and exploring the rivers than I do in canoes. 

Megan is fearless, (thats her on the right jumping off) which is amazing to watch.  She will float down a rocky path, jumping from rock to rock, very confident and sure of her footing. This is just not me, I place one foot, make sure- triple make sure- its secure and then place the next.  She never seems bothered by my lameness, which really allows me to be comfortable being me.  I think we all want this in some way, in every part of our life.  Over analyzing and being too critical with others comes way to naturally to us.  I try really hard to let people be, and I love when I get that in return.  But don't get me wrong, I love challenging people to figure out some way to become better versions of themselves: to use their Starbucks money for the day to bless someone, or to take their huge helping of leftovers to the homeless people that sit outside downtown, to flip people off less often, to stop talking so much about Hollywood and more about real life...

Anyway, all that to say, I took a underwater camera with me this past summer to the rivers and then had left over film for my parents pool.  It was an experiment, and with the learning curve of film, I doubt my next set will be any better.  For now, enjoy!

Side note: Its 30ish degrees outside as I write this, and to think of my parents pool as warm and inviting isn't easy, but I love their pool.  I remember as a kid taking the mandatory swim lessons in 5th grade.  Do you remember taking lessons? During the testing phase, I swam the entire width of the pool, putting me into the "well now what do we do with this kid that already knows how to swim?" category.  They figured something out.  For the rest of the sessions I got to hang out with the high school dive team at the other end of the pool.  I felt so cool, so knowledgeable about swimming or something.  Sitting on the edge of the 1970's style pool, I can remember listening to the highschool girls talk about smoking and cute boys.  Neither appealed to me at the time, however cute guys are definitely on my radar now...