Today was an interesting day.  At the onset, it didn't seem remarkable.  I hadn't planned anything extraordinary.  I walked my dog and enjoyed the fabulous weather.  I went to the market and discovered a new brand of Red Tea, Chai tea and two new varieties of hot cocoa!  I also discovered a new flavor of Bolthouse beverages.

After that, I comtemplated going back to get the SCUBA suit that I looked at last week.  I don't dive as much as I used to, however, so it felt like an unnecessary splurge.  I've been weighing the pros and cons.  I really enjoyed diving and therefore it would be nice to get back into something I liked to do, but there is the cost.  It would be great low-impact exercise, but my former dive buddy is not here and I can't dive by myself nor might I ever find that level of trust with another.  My adventures could lead to unknown possibilities, but maybe these are dreams of the child I was and not the person I am?I remember the concepts, but do I need a refresher course to remind me of the mechanics?   

I skipped going to get a new suit.  I came home instead to unpack what I had, return lots of calls, organize and figure out what I can do next.  What I found was the Dive Training magazine that I picked up from the SCUBA store.

Thanks to my Evelyn Wood speed reading course, it didn't take long to flip through the articles and photos before I put the magazine aside to continue my search for something to do.  Online, I received a link from my cousin Kate, who had posted videos of her father, my uncle Mike who took Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldren to the moon in Apollo 11.  This year is the 50th anniversary of the mission of landing those brave men on the moon. www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7R7T2qOTb4.  It happened before I was born but I have seen many newsreels and heard the stories more times than I could possibly count.  Yet each time I hear them, I learn something new as seen with new perspective or heard new material allowing a much deeper appreciation and understanding.
  
Although my family, and by default, I am somehow involved in such history, it is surprising how little I think about it throughout the course of a day.  That is meant with no disrespect to my uncle, his wife, children, my entire family really who have sacrificed so much for our country.  What I mean is that when I wake up in the morning I do not think, "I'm the niece of an astronaut that was watched on TV by more people than any other event in human history at the time..." or, "I'm the cousin of..." or "I'm the daughter of..."  I wake up and think, "OK, puppy, let me quickly brush my teeth before I take you for a walk."  Then do my best to dress and go about completing whatever I had promised I would do before I have to get up and do it all again.  I think much more about the lessons I have learned from the experience than the actual experience.

For example, I learned that lots of people have never studied or retained history.  That lesson comes easily as few people know much about NASA or the name of the lunar missions or even the names of the three men on Apollo 11.  Other lessons like discipline, integrity and perseverance came more subtly through years of my own trial and error in learning and the great leadership of various members of my family who were always there for me to critique and encourage.  I've learned how strange people can be when they camp outside houses to take someone's picture or pretend to be your friend but only want to see if we really have moon rocks in the basement.  Most importantly, perhaps, I learned that whatever endeavor any one of us embarks on whether it is learning to walk or fly, sing, paint or ride a motorcycle that we all start as beginners.  It takes a long time to learn what our strengths are and then develop those strengths into skills.  (We don't have to think of the movie JackAss specifically to admit we know adults who insist they can do things they have never done, without any book learning or experience ever doing it before.  Know anyone who went on a ski vacation certain they could ski without ever taking a lesson?  Or captained a boat?  Or rode a motor cycle?  Or baked a cake without instruction?)  I do think of my Uncle Mike and his infinite patience with people while they just assume they can, while he methodically studies, trains and practices...not just in the past but everything he does in his life.  He's a great role model.

Only when I am reminded of the actual experience directly, like seeing news clips of it or indirectly, like watching a full moon with the same awe and wonder that most people should have when they stare at the sky do I really ponder the magnitude of the accomplishment of someone I know...and then ponder my relationship to it and how it has shaped my life, for better or for worse.

That is a story for another day.

Today's story is extracted from the editorial in Dive Magazine by Alex Brylske.  It's called "Getting the Picture."  He says, "It's also hardly news that images tend to have a much stronger influence on us than words...for those of us in the TV generation and beyond...in generations past, people would remain spellbound for speeches or even lectures that went on for hours.  Today, you're lucky if you can hold someone's attention for as long as it takes to finish a cup of coffee."  He goes on to explain how divers tend to be more visual than others because there's no hearing or speaking under water.  "In fact," he explains, "Vision is the defining sense for all primates.  Evolutionary biologists tell us that our superb color vision was a selective advantage for our ancestors in distinguishing ripe from unripe fruit in the jungle canopy." 

Alex Brylske asks us in his article to, "Look beyond the immediate image to what's really going on before you.  That's the first step in learning how not merely to respond to your problems but preventing them from happening.  After all a good picture will do more than make you think, it will also teach you something."

I think I’m getting the picture.  I am taking the steps.  I am calculating risk.  I am looking and seeking not just diving in.  I have checked out my equipment. 

I might not be landing on the moon, but my uncle has once again inspired me to explore again, and not just in the physical realm.  Having him discuss, after 50 years, how he was trained “not to feel” and admit that he was perhaps not the best PR person for the job to relate the story back to the emotional, excited audience on Earth is a HUGE break through of historic and human proportions.   He was trained for every possible situation that might be encountered on the moon.  He was not trained to express himself to the world with emotion.  www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5hjYqOomc

50 years later, he also has grown as a human and has a great ability to communicate with great humor and eloquence.  Perhaps after all these years, I have also grown in ways imperceptible to most.  Perhaps my journey today means I will go back and dive.  Perhaps it is just a small step toward opening myself up to the idea of finding a trustworthy dive buddy. 

 
Perhaps I’ll have to see how I feel tomorrow.  The good news is, I am ripe to explore again...and eternally thankful to everyone whohepled me get here.  That sense of mutual respect is also something that is learned over years of reminding that none of us would be where we are without the help or inspiration of others.  Even in the midst of making history and lunar orbit, my uncle was already aware of that.  www.youtube.com/watch?v8m2SDDAXqtk