Dolphins in the Wild

Happy Mother's Day!

I knew that I needed to take a break from writing my book to stretch my body with a swim, and to enjoy some beach reading time. Swimming is my preferred sport while being staying on the Big Island of Love in Hawaii. I just didn't know which beach to visit since it was Mother's Day. Usually the beaches are busier on the weekends and I wondered if there would be a crowd of people with some of the car stereos blasting out base sounds which is pretty common on weekends. There's usually someone strumming a guitar or playing their djembe drum, which is nice, although sometimes a portable boom box can create a challenging place to sleep or read.

I packed up my purple floral soft pack cooler with fruit, chicken and water bottles. I still needed to make a decision on where I would go, north or south? The northern area of the island has the sandy white beaches which were sure to get a lot of activity today between the tourists and the locals. If I went south, I might be able to swim with the dolphins, and it was closer to where I am staying, so I could also save on some gas since it's $3.70 a gallon here. I'd already made several trips to the north so that I could print off copies of the rough draft of my book, and shop at the farmers market for fresh leafy green lettuce that's grown fresh on the island for $1.50 a head. It's gorgeous lettuce and I prefer it over anything else. Not to mention the 6 papayas for $2.00. In high school, I lived in Hawaii with my dad, so I know how delicious fresh pineapple is when bought and eaten right here. The fabulous farmers market has the sweetest, Maui Gold's, for $2.50 each. Yum!

I'm in such a state of bliss today as I listen to the Eagles jamming on the radio. Music soothes and heals my soul. It keeps me loose and limber instead of tight and shut down. After spending so much time writing on the computer with my thoughts, I really need to sing along with the radio right now. I have an idea for the music selection for the upcoming June Women's retreat and I'm excited to start downloading the songs. Manson will show me the latest program that he uses for his IPod. I don't have one yet as I am a bit behind the times.

We've had some rain over the several days and it's great to keep the plants lush so I'm ready for some sunshine to get my dose of Vitamin D. I ran out of my vitamins and amino acid protein shake and can't wait for Manson to bring me a fresh supply from home. I fully expect to wrap my arms around his neck and kiss him all over later this week. His plans for being with me were altered due to his working schedule changing on the eve of his flight last week. We were both sad to say the least. We're ready for some skin to skin contact. This writing, creative space has been wonderful as usual, and equally wonderful is that reuniting always feels so good. Looks like I'll be here for another month and that makes a conjugal visit really nice about now. After 32 years together we still feel the love that brought us together in the first place. We've worked hard at our commitment, and I'm very clear that having regular space is essential for my creativity and expansion. Some people have affairs, and I have Hawaii!

I'm already in such a deep place of gratitude that I wonder what will greet me at the beach.

I arrive early enough to get the perfect parking spot in front of the beach wall that I like to sit on. I quickly unload my chair, bamboo beach mat, cooler, snorkel gear, and rough draft of the book. I'm checking in on my surroundings and notice some locals are setting up their tables for a family day picnic. Then I hear the sound, boom, boom, and my heart sinks. I've just heard the first notes to the base amp of the young family to my right. That's my good ear, and so I can hear it and feel it in my bones. OK, should I just pack it up and leave because I feel like it's going to be difficult to sit here while enjoying the quiet with it this intense vibration and noise in my ear.

Then I heard that all too familiar voice that speaks to me in a soft tone, "Look at the water before you make that decision."

As I turned to look at the water I almost squealed with delight. Several spinner dolphins were flying out of the water into the air! Then the whole pod started to come up for air. They rise and fall like a wave as each row takes their turn to breathe. Six of them surface while exhaling from their, what I call, blow hole, or air vent. I can almost hear the sound it makes from shore. Then the next row surfaces with at least as that many more and I can feel a vibe running down my body. I wonder, how many more are down there?

One of the dolphins did something that I heard the whales do during our Jan retreat. It slapped it's tail on the surface of the water and an echo rang out against the rock cliff. I call this Puka Beach because of the holes in the bluff that were left over from the hot lava tubes emptying out from the volcano's might purge. It's a great backdrop and provides that 'old Hawaii feeling.' Tourists don't like this beach much because of all the lava and dirty looking brownish black sand. They want the white pristine picture perfect coastlines that are on the brochures that they find on Maui. The Big Island of Love is full of rocky, lava laden beaches and it makes for great snorkeling and dolphin sanctuaries.

I picked up my snorkel gear and walked towards the water as I said a prayer of gratitude for the dolphins being there. I wondered if they would great me or swim off as I approached them today. It's always a mystery what kind of mood they will be in. The last time I was at this beach there were 4 dolphins hanging out for the entire day. It was as if two couples wanted a break from the pod to court one another. It can get pretty frisky being in a pod of dolphins as they dart in and out of each others space. The keiki's or babies are close to their mothers side. Sometimes the ones who are what we would call adolescents will play a game of chase. This means that at any moment in time two or more of these wild ones will come whizzing by and then launch out of the water and flip in the air making for a big wow moment, especially if you happen to be right there in the water with them. This looks like it could be one of those days so I'm not wasting another moment because the decision has now been cast. What noise? Booming sounds? They've been replaced with my focused intention of slipping into the water as soon as I can gather up my gear.

As I walked on the soft sandy beach while adjusting the mask in my hands I did a mental check. Sunglasses? Off. Hair tied up with a rubber band to keep it out of my face? Check. Bathing suit covering private parts? Uh, I guess I'd better stop and retie this top before I give the snorkelers more of a show then they bargain for. The last time I was here there was a young man swimming nude which made for good fun gossip and writing.

There were other snorkelers in the water when I arrived and they were having fun dropping leaves in front of the dolphins to pick up with their fins or to bat them with their tails. They are very playful and quite smart as one time I watched one take five leaves one at a time as she circled around several times until she had them all doubled up on her fins and tail. She loved the game and was quite good at showing us her talents. It's quite remarkable to say the least to be in the presence of these smiling friends who live in the wild. It feels so organic and the dolphins appear to love the company and attention. That is, if they are in the mood.

Swimming comes easy for me having grown up around pools in southern California. The ocean was part of my childhood playground, and it was a bit cold yet we kids loved spending time there. After swimming a distance of about 200 feet, I arrived where the pod was hanging out. They headed right for me. Here they come as if I'm in a parade and they've come to welcome me to the party! There are a lot of them today! I start counting, two, 6, 10, 14, 18, 20, and then I realize that as I'm counting the ones in front of me, there are more below me and two groups coming from both sides of my face. The first ones are still making a bee line for me and I'm feeling like I'm in a scene in a movie and where the director has just said to the dolphins, "Now, swim towards Nancy, and say hello to her."

All I can think of is to send them the energy of love through my thoughts and vibes. They are just 8 feet away, then 5, then the ones in front part within inches of my face and glide right next to me as if they knew me. I wondered if they could remember me from my past swims with them. I felt like a dolphin magnet. The other snorkelers were swimming after them and I just floated in place keeping my arms to my side as to not scare them off. I wanted to Be with them, not chase them. Besides, they are pretty fast swimmers so you're not going to catch them. I prefer to let the others snorkelers chase them right back to me and that's what I happened.

As I floated in the feeling of gratitude and love, all of a sudden they were back! Faster than I had thought they would be and right next to my body. They actually scared me as the first one glided from behind me and was swimming as if in slow motion looking me right in the eye. This time he opened his mouth as it to actually say, "Hi," to me. I am shocked at the presence of my friends once again. I am surrounded by what I am counting off as somewhere between 35-50 dolphins. They are hanging with me, circling, and dancing and then the keiki's start to leap out of the water into the air again. I lift my head slightly so that I can see both underwater and above water at the same time through my mask. She swims fast from below the water and then flies up and out while flipping in mid air. "Hurray!!!" I felt like cheering and applauding their show and giving her a '10' for excellence. This is heaven on earth while being in the water. There's no place I'd rather be today.

Once again the snorkelers try to dive and chase them and they simply swim off as if they want them to leave us alone to experience the mutual giving and receiving of their love and presence for myself. I know this seems odd, and it is, even for me, but that is the feeling I have. How divine it is to be in the presence of so much love, and I want to return all that love back to them. They repeat their moves and make another bee line straight towards me and I simply soak it all up. How long can I stay in this love?

I decide that I'd been out there for well over an hour, maybe two, but I lose track of time and head back to shore for a shower and some protein and fruit. As I begin to steady my legs walking out of the water, I feel surreal, as if I am re-entering another world altogether. Only this time, it feels completely different. I feel enveloped with the radiance of love and it's emanating from me like an aura of light.

I notice that the children are all so very happy to be playing in the water on boogie boards, and with their pails and shovels. The site of smiling faces and chattering squeals of delight add a bigger smile to my face. I love to watch happy children. I feel so connected to them and am happy that they are feeling free in the same moment that I am. Everything has the feeling of One Love; the dolphins, the water, the sand, and fish merge with the land and humans. It's a Woo Woo moment.

When I sit down on my beach chair I look to my right and the music has been toned down and I'm pleased with my decision to stay. The parking lot is now full, but I am not crowed in the least. There is plenty of 'space' around me. As I munch on food I observe the usual site, people of all ages smoking pot. Just 15 feet away are three people in the 60's smoking a hooter. The observation I make is that I feel like there is an underwater aquarium right in front of us in the ocean and only a hand full of people are even aware of it. If I were still smoking pot, I might still be sitting on the beach missing out on the bliss under the water. I know that I am a mermaid. I love every moment I get to spend in the water and on the beach taking in the sites. Today, I am grateful to be alive and present to the beauty that's all around me. No judgements, simply making an observation.

Sometimes the dolphins will leave soon after a morning of play time. Yet, today them seem content to just keep making laps back and forth in the bay. Coming up for air in their mini pods. They must know that its Mothers Day, and they want to please us with their company. It doesn't appear that there are any other tour guides on the beach today who make their living offering to show people into the dolphin pod and take pictures of them while they swim underneath their bellies. There is a kyak that a couple rented from the beach vendors and they are lit up with sounds of joy coming from them as they watch the show from above the water. I decide that I want to go in the water after a short nap underneath the hazy cloud/vog covered sky. Vog is a combination of the stream vents from the volcano and the clouds merging which creates a smog type effect, but the locals call it vog. I am a very sensitive person, but the vog for some mysterious reason, doesn't appear to effect me.

When asleep, I can dream quick short dreams and this one was about Manson joining me at the beach and watching his face light up as he experiences the dolphins for the first time. He is very happy to be here with me again. It's been at least 15 years since we first came to Kona together and he is due to return to what he calls his favorite Hawaiian island. It's a nice dream that feels good both when I am dreaming it and when I wake up from it.

When I sit up and stare out into the bay I can see that the dolphins are swimming around, surfacing for air. There must be over 100 people on the beach and no one is in the water where the pod is doing laps. That's my cue. I envision these moments when I can be all by myself and simply float in their presence. After all, aren't they here to rest? I just want to Be with them giving and receiving our one love.

I am startled before I reach the pod as the same male that greeted me the last time swam up from behind me and was gliding by my side within inches of my body. I felt like he wanted to touch my hand with his fin. If there was a dolphin who was trying to dance with me, then this was my partner. I decided to take his cue and I took a deep breath of air and swam down underneath him upside down while he swam above me. I twirled underwater a time or two and then kicked my feet like a mermaid would as I released the last little bit of air from my lungs and surfaced. I love this dolphins!

By then, the whole pod had arrived to see what all the hoopla was about. Then a couple mated quickly and with ease and grace. They mate for pleasure and often. I saw a leaf floating in front of me that the snorkelers had left behind. I wondered if I ought to pick it up and drop it in front of this friendly dolphin. In that same moment, he quickly scooped up the leaf with his fin as if to show me that he knew my thoughts. Were we sharing the same universal mind? Why was I the only one out there? Did I co-create this moment for myself? Is this fantasy turning into my book, and is the story merging with my ultimate dreams and desires? I am blissed out in the Woo Woo of dolphinville. I don't have a care in the world in this moment and I could stay here for hours. They are my friends who are always smiling are circling with love. I send it right back to them. There are so many of them that I think for the first time that I may want to get an underwater camera. Thank you Spirit of love for this incredible day.

In oh so much love in the Woo Woo,

Nancy