Trudy Jones

My mother died yesterday. I'm in Viet Nam at the moment, and this is
my understanding of what happened after speaking with my father today
on a short phone call. She had a stroke on Monday evening and was
taken to the hospital unconscious. The medical staff were unable to
revive her and she died in her sleep in the morning of the Wednesday
the 19th. Her body has been cremated and will be interned shortly in
a lovely memorial garden at her church. There will be a memorial
service when I return. I had originally planned to return in early
March from my travels, but I now need to sit with that decision and
see if that still feels ok. In any event there will not be a memorial
service for at least a month so that all who would like to come may
make arrangements to travel to Springfield Missouri.

I was lucky to have a good conversation with my mother on Sunday. It
was upbeat and we discussed many things, including how we both enjoy
Thai food and that we love each other. It feels very good that I got
to tell her that I love her and to say goodbye. My father was also
able to have a moment alone with her in the hospital towards the end;
and was able to get a sense of closure. My father is in a supportive
environment and he continues to receive "more sympathy than he
deserves" :-)

I am fortunately traveling with a friend for a few more days who is
wonderful and emotionally supportive, but we have also just learned
that her grandmother is in the hospital and in serious but stable
condition and will have to go home as soon as she can get space
amongst the holiday travelers crossing the Pacific Ocean.

I feel terrible and confused of course. About the time when she
passed away I was purchasing a gold bracelet for her in Bangkok. I'm
not sure what I am supposed to do with it now. Before I left Bangkok
I sent a postcard to my parents addressed to "Mom and Dad", it is in
the mail now. It is my birthday today and I plan to have a nice
dinner in the charming Vietnamese town Hoi An, where I'm having a
tuxedo tailored for me, there are Christmas trees with blinking
lights, "Frosty the Snowman" is played in restaurants, and old women
who have probably seen more sorrow than any of us; pedal by on old
fashioned bicycles with conical hats and smiles on there faces in the
warm sunshine -- it feels surreal beyond all imagining.

The plan is to to keep traveling for now and allow the spaciousness of
travel to help me sort out my feelings and figure out when I am coming
back.

My first under water photos

I'm in Koh Lanta now, it has a very lovely beach that has a nice combination of being developed enough to have nice restaurants and other conveniences, but things are mellow enough so that it doesn't feel crowded or overly expensive like its popular neighbors.

This is the very last picture I took with my camera of a tube worm, before the seal broke on my camera housing. There is a fellow in the dive shop trying to repair it, but the prognosis doesn't look good. Saltwater just isn't a good choice for digital cameras. Thankfully the memory card came through fine.

I just thought this Barrel Sponge looked pretty cool.

This little guy was just about four feet from me. That is a banded sea snake -- one of the most deadly snakes in the world, but perfectly harmless to diver unless you do something really really dumb. I avoid doing dumb things underwater and focus on the looking part.

See you soon.

Tech Diving: Overcoming fear through inner peace

I don't have my housing just yet so here is a picture of a guy dressing in the technical diving gear similar to what I was wearing (I was smiling though).

I just finished my first technical diving course here on Koh Tao, in Thailand. Recreational scuba divers are limited to a depth of 40 meters and dive times. I can now go 18 feet deeper to 45 meters and have much longer dive times. Five meters may not seem like much, but its the threshold from a fairly simple scuba setup, to diving with a dive shop along; its about having to stay underneath the water to decompress, monitoring things more closely (constantly), and having several redundant systems, plans, special training for emergencies, and determining gas mixes you breath. Yes -- using that algebra you learned in secondary school to calculate how much oxegen you can safely breathe without killing yourself -- who knew math could be so useful. I feel like I'm a better diver for it, and I look forward to diving deeper soon.

Some impressions: Even though you have to stay underwater for a period of time to avoid the bends, you feel a little safer in a way because you have several redundant systems, whereas with recreational diving you assume that you can always drop your weight belt and pop to the surface like a cork ( don't hold your breath though ). Its good not to asume. It feels awkward at first because there is about 30% to 200% more gear to carry but it all sorts itself out underwater. It's also fun stumbling around on the boat deck with all that black scuba gear looking like you are going to be shot out a torpedo tube on a submarine.

There was some training exercises that involved taking off your mask and then doing tasks like opening and shutting valves. I really don't like doing this, ( you know, breathing out of a hose, trying not to suck in seawater, with your eyes closed, fumbling about doing awkward tasks, with 30 feet of ocean above your head. It is all quite safe because there is a highly trained instructor right in front of you, but that lizard brain keeps saying -- "Your going to drown!!!" It really brings up feelings of fear, anxiety, annoyance, and frustration -- which all have to managed with a sense of inner calm, peacefulness, relaxation, and gentle breathing. Perhaps someone could create an underwater workshop called "Overcoming fear through inner peace" Taught in a unique environment this course will help the student manage fear though life affirming breathing exercises.

A few words about my instruction. I'm staying at the Buddha View dive resort in Koh Tao Thailand. It's a nice facility, the staff is friendly, the prices are good, and I feel I got a fairly treated. It does cater to a young crowd and you can here drunken European accented voices singing along with Oasis at 11 at night. Many divers are coming and going it is a place of constant activity. The seas were a bit rough as well so that limited some the dive activities. The best dive was the last dive which was in about 15 feet of water. Having all the techgear felt a little silly, but the goal was training. I understand that the weather is better at other times.

Sometimes the instruction seemed a little rushed, and I would have liked to here more anecdotal information along with the facts, but I was on a limited schedule which they accommodated, and I was the only person in the class which was pretty cool. I would recommend them, and the prices are good.

Don't panic. :-)