Dolphin Glory

This morning came early because last night involved Taleo, Ten and Tentation. That troika makes for a long night, usually denotes a good night, and likely includes a late morning the next day. However, I wanted to charge into and embrace the day. Sunday is a glorious day in general. The Lord's Day as it were. It's the last day of the weekend and I feel it should be attended to with great vigor and activity, regardless of the prior night. Today was no exception. After all, you screw up one Sunday, that's about 2% of your Sundays gone for the year.

The sun was shining and beckoning me out to the waves. I hit it early. The decision to put on a wet wetsuit and swim through some "textured" waves was appearing to be a bad. I wasn't feeling great and my energy was waning. After catching a few waves, I felt even worse. I vowed not to let the triple T from last night affect my Glory Day, but I was having some trouble actually executing on that vow. Then, in the middle of my self centered pity, dolphins.

Here I am, focused on me, my thoughts, my feelings, where dry land meets ocean, not even thinking about how great it is to be in the ocean, surfing, with the sun shining. The dolphins changed that. It's invigorating, and somewhat scary at first, to see a dorsal streaming through the water. After realizing that dorsal fin is attached to a dolphin, the dogs of the sea*, you understand that you're in a special place. They're simply breathtaking. They cruise through the ocean, checking things out, eating, playing, wandering. These particular dolphins were within 10 feet of me. I don't think they gave me a second thought, or even a first thought for that matter. But I thought about them. These dolphins looked particularly long in the dorsal fin. The looked weathered and worn by the sea. It got me thinking about them. Where they had been last night. If they had any regrets about what they'd done. I doubt it. They seemed like good, proper dolphins.

Regardless, swimming with them is always amazing. It's also what makes surfing so great. Participating with some of nature's coolest beings in their environment is simply cool. It made me happy to be alive. It made me excited to be part of that experience, if only for a fleeting moment. It made me feel good about things. It made me want to do it again, and I have no doubt I will.