No Rain on My Parade

(Some photos. Click for larger versions. Especially the Black Pearl... read on...)

Do you ever have one of those days that just keeps getting better and better? That was my Sunday.

I was teaching a class of 8 on a smaller dive boat out of San Pedro. I got up early and was at the boat by 6:00 AM. How would the day go? How would the students do? I knew they were good, and had caught on well in the 2 weekends I worked with them, but there's always the nagging anxiety.

I probably could have fortold how the day would go by the first thing we saw leaving the harbor. It seems they were doing some filming recently and left a prop floating next to the dock. We got to see the Black Pearlfrom one of my current favorite movies up close. Pirates 2 really helped make me happy last month. The power of the Black Pearl is just as enchanting. This was super cool! And a good omen if there ever was one.

The diving was great. The water was a warm 72 - 74 degrees. The visibility was about 30 to 45 feet at all the dive sites. And my students were amazing! All three dives went off without a hitch. I even got in a very relaxing 51 minute dive at the end of the day. I wish every class was like these guys! (Well, guys and girls because it was 5 women and 3 men. It's a rarity that women outnumber the men. Maybe that's a good sign, too!)

The boat ride back was a lot of fun. We did the requisite paperwork, had a little graduation ceremony and cracked open the beer! I love when we carpool and I don't have to drive home! Diving is such an amazing sport because you get to meet people that you would never encounter on a regular basis. Including one with intimate access to MySpace. My own personal "Tom." The students were super generous with tipping the crew and their instructor, which is very rare (but always appreciated). Good dive kharma is always a sound investment! (EDITOR'S NOTE: Yes, Brian is looking much hotter these days. A work in progress. A healthy distraction.)

The drive home was a little rough. Roomie was sad and so we talked and shared. I think it was good. I had a couple calls come in but like most dive days my mobile's battery was dying so I opted to let them slip into voicemail land. At 7:29 PM I got a call from 786-976-0002 that I really should have taken. Oops.

It's been 39 days since I last saw the gentleman friend. (38 days since I last heard his voice.) We've communicated through the most impersonal of communications, email, regularly since he left but email is hard. How do you communicate emotion in an emotionless medium? Getting through the next 144 days is gonna suck!

But what worse is, how do I know that he feels the same way? His emails are always sweet and fun. I can see his beautiful smile as he types them. I can hear his new friends -- I know he has plenty because who wouldn't want to be around him -- egging him on to hurry up and get to the lounge. I want him to be happy, but I want to know that I play a role in that new happiness. Somewhere, I'm there, in the back of his head.

Of course, my friends have told me I'm an idiot. Of course he's thinking of me. Of course he misses me. It so obvious. But what kind of fag would I be if I wasn't horribly insecure?

Thus the phone call at 7:29 that I should have taken. Roomie and I hopped back into her truck and headed home. "Oh. Voicemail. Where is area code 786?" (Did it ever dawn on you that techonology, with its mobile phones and caller ID, is making us freakishly impatient? Why couldn't I just wait for the message?)

The phone number was probably a pay phone. It was the gentleman friend -- not sounding too happy. Shit. Fuck. The call. Met someone great. Really happy. Hope you are too. Bye.

Ah! But you remember, this post is about the perfect day. So you know where I'm going with this one.

He misses me. Really. Okay, so those in the know have been saying it for 39 days. But the first time I heard his voice in that long, it was to reach out to me. I don't want him to be sad. That hurt -- and honestly, made roomie and I cry a little -- but the emotion was strangely refreshing and real. It was nice to have emotion again. The sterile environs of email has been shattered. 144 days. I can get through it.

Especially since I am going to bankrupt myself this month on a trip to Seattle to spend 3 hours with him. Emotions are expensive!

And I think this photo best sums up how great a "scuba day" can be and my overall sense of contentment.
(That's not me by the way. One of the super students passed out with beer in hand. That's a good scuba day!)