Undertow
As an avid swimmer in Lake Michigan I have definitely dealt with the undertow and waves quite a bit. Water is amazing and powerful, but definitely not safe. We need water to live and the Earth and our bodies are over 75% water. But that doesn't mean that water is not able to surprise us at times. And that time for me was yesterday.
After cleaning up garbage in a neighborhood with the local members of CHE (community health evangelism) and Jenny and Mark, our team headed to the beach. We were accompanied by seven of the Dominican members of CHE who we worked alongside earlier in the day. This beach was phenomenal. We drove up a mountain and then down to the water. There were no tourists there, so it was clearly a spot for locals. The beauty on the ocean and the waves did have one downside - rocks. There was not a sandy beach, but instead a rocky beach and rocks in the water. The rocks, the waves, and the undertow made swimming difficult, but not impossible. We all got in the water immediately and started playing in the waves. Within 5 minutes Lolo, one of the Dominicans, came out toward the water and asked me to get out so he could talk to me (he wanted to remind me to tell the team to be safe - the Dominicans were always worried about our safety. It was very thoughtful). As I was getting out of the water to go talk to Lolo I was hit by a rather large wave and I decided walking out on the rocks was silly, so I started to swim/crawl to him. Of course, I was immediately hit by another wave, but I continued on. I made it to Lolo, talked for a minute and sat in the waves near the shore. I saw another wave coming, but being a Lake Michigan enthusiast I sat there and anticipated the fun of the wave hitting me in the face. As the wave crashed over my body and past me, I loved it. But then the water was drawn back into the ocean and attempted to take me with it. I held my ground and my body remained safe. But somehow I left my hands open. I felt it happening, but it was as if it were in slow motion. I was not able to stop the pull. The water was powerful and although my body was firmly planted, my wedding ring was not fully planted on my left ring finger. It slipped past my first knuckle and I made a lame attempt at snagging it as it slipped past my second knuckle. It was gone. A gem lost to the sea. I can only hope that it's picked up someday and added to a collection of dinglehoppers and snarfblatts.
Rob
After cleaning up garbage in a neighborhood with the local members of CHE (community health evangelism) and Jenny and Mark, our team headed to the beach. We were accompanied by seven of the Dominican members of CHE who we worked alongside earlier in the day. This beach was phenomenal. We drove up a mountain and then down to the water. There were no tourists there, so it was clearly a spot for locals. The beauty on the ocean and the waves did have one downside - rocks. There was not a sandy beach, but instead a rocky beach and rocks in the water. The rocks, the waves, and the undertow made swimming difficult, but not impossible. We all got in the water immediately and started playing in the waves. Within 5 minutes Lolo, one of the Dominicans, came out toward the water and asked me to get out so he could talk to me (he wanted to remind me to tell the team to be safe - the Dominicans were always worried about our safety. It was very thoughtful). As I was getting out of the water to go talk to Lolo I was hit by a rather large wave and I decided walking out on the rocks was silly, so I started to swim/crawl to him. Of course, I was immediately hit by another wave, but I continued on. I made it to Lolo, talked for a minute and sat in the waves near the shore. I saw another wave coming, but being a Lake Michigan enthusiast I sat there and anticipated the fun of the wave hitting me in the face. As the wave crashed over my body and past me, I loved it. But then the water was drawn back into the ocean and attempted to take me with it. I held my ground and my body remained safe. But somehow I left my hands open. I felt it happening, but it was as if it were in slow motion. I was not able to stop the pull. The water was powerful and although my body was firmly planted, my wedding ring was not fully planted on my left ring finger. It slipped past my first knuckle and I made a lame attempt at snagging it as it slipped past my second knuckle. It was gone. A gem lost to the sea. I can only hope that it's picked up someday and added to a collection of dinglehoppers and snarfblatts.
Rob
Comments
Post a Comment