Descent into Darkness - Part 1

originally published November 7, 2017

 The Sunday following my drift dive excursion, I had the last of my Advanced Open Water classes scheduled. Chris and I were to meet at Blue Grotto, home to my aborted second attempt at Confined Water diving (as relayed in "The Importance of Being Equal"), for my Deep Dive and Night Dive. I had snorkeled a place called Blue Heron Bridge at night a few times so the night dive didn't really weigh on me, it was the deep dive that was making me super anxious. The thought of allllll that water over my head, and not being able to get to the surface quickly, was nerve wracking. [photo courtesy Scotty's Action Sports Network]




After getting back from Rainbow River, Chris and I went over the dive plan and he assured me we wouldn't have to go any deeper than I was comfortable with. I'd have to get below 60 feet but we wouldn't have to go all the way to the bottom, and we would take things slow. Ryan, Chris' partner in the dive center who ran the retail side of the operation, also tried to ease my anxiety by telling me Blue Grotto wasn't super deep, barely 100 feet at the maximum. He also explained that I wouldn't feel any different at 80 feet than I had at 50, the deepest I had been thus far. I knew just needed to relax but knowing and doing are two different things. I also needed to get my hands on a dive light. I still hadn't been able to find one that fit my budget. Ugh. 

I headed home, strangely energized after having been up at 5 AM for the drive to Rainbow River (hooray for Nitrox!). About 9 that night, my phone chirped it's little cricket chirp indicative of a Facebook messenger alert. It was Guy. 

Uhm.... what?

Now, I haven't really told you the whole story of Guy but, if you read "Discovery" you'll remember how I said life with him was complicated. Oh boy, is it ever. The dating facet of our relationship had ended rather abruptly and I was still reeling from the shock of it in many ways. We still spoke on occasion but we hadn't had a "real" conversation in about a month. And now, from out of the blue he wanted to come visit me. It bears repeating: Uhm... what? Seems he and his new gal had split up. 



Guy had recently relocated from "cave country" (an area of North Florida loaded with springs that is something of a cave diving mecca) and was back in South Florida. I agreed to let him come stay with me for a few days while he got his head on straight. Why? Because I'm an idiot, of course. 

What does any of this have to do with scuba diving? Well, he solved my dive light problem by giving me one his spares. So, I had that going for me. He hung around for a few days and then headed home. And got back together with the new girl the following day. Shocker. *sigh* Life with Guy continues to be complicated.

Don't judge me. 

Up next... a change of plans and a marriage proposal (WHAT?!)

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