After a week in Tokyo Tess & I had to say goodbye and fly to Okinawa, also in Japan but a whole other new world. Tess’ part of the trip was Tokyo, my part was Okinawa. Because. Nick is in Okinawa. My second son, second soldier, second to be stationed in Okinawa. First on my list.

Okinawa is breath-taking! Whereas Tokyo has all the hustle & bustle of a, polite, big city; Okinawa is the stereotypical laid-back Island life. Maybe not on Kadena (air force base) where Nick is stationed, but everywhere else. Yep.

We arrived into a small airport filled with orchids. Flowers everywhere. Along every window, in pots, between moving sidewalks, lining every hall. Our suitcases already waiting by the time we made it from our gate to the baggage area. The only thing I didn’t like was 1) I could’t rent a car (I had the wrong international license, the wrong SOFA license, the wrong national license); 2) we had to take a taxi everywhere. The buses weren’t running when we arrived, island life is not the same as big city life.

I did like arriving to Air Force housing. We went from having sleeping pads on the floor, and a shared bathroom down the hall, to a 3-room, 1-bath suite. And American-style beds! While I appreciate the experience of sleeping on tatami mats, my body loved getting out of a raised bed. A lot less creaking from these old bones.

Unfortunately, due to mission needs, Nick’s leave had been canceled. That’s the Army for you. I knew it could happen, I was still sad when it did. Luckily he still had the weekend, I knew I’d get to spend some time with him. So instead of the three of us, just Tess & I went diving. Scuba diving.

I’d been once in my life, at 18, same age as Tess now. I was fitted with a mask, tank & flippers and tossed into the ocean by a Navy seal. That did not go well. I was nervous this time too. This time was just a shallow dive, no more than 12 meters, a “fun” dive. Still a dive, with a tank, in the ocean.

Tess wasn’t nervous. Soren had taken her on an all-day beginner’s course in Columbus last summer. She was pretty confident with the equipment & her skills. She was ready!

The idea had been to dive the Blue Cave, and then head out to the reef to see the clown fish. But. I panicked. The Blue Cave was… dark! Not just dark. I was underwater! In a tunnel! With no lights! I had to surface and stop. I didn’t know I was clausterphobic until I was in a dark tunnel, underwater. While I’m sad I couldn’t do it, I did get to see it & it was simply gorgeous.

Diving the reef though? That I could do. The first time an angelfish swam up to me I squealed… and promptly had to clear my mask. Squealing apparently allows water to come in. I’m terrible at mask clearing. It requires looking up, holding the mask in place, blowing through your nose and not breathing in. I failed. Luckily my instructor was right there and helped me calm down, get the water out of my mouth, nose & mask, and carry on seeing the fishies. The incredibly beautiful, tropical fishies.

At one point Takayasu, our instructor, handed us bread to feed the fish. We were immediately swarmed by eager, vibrant, fish. Hungry fish. Fish that tried to eat my gloves as well as the bread. Fish that tried to eat my worm-like hair! I feel vaguely like Medusa LOL. At one point I saw a fish coming towards me from the corner of my eye, a beautiful blue fish, with his mouth wide open looking for a snack! I almost squealed again. I was feeling very snack-like at that moment, luckily he just wanted a little bread. Not me or my hair.

The dive ended way sooner than I wanted. I could’ve spent a lifetime underwater, feeding ravenous fishies. I much prefer being in a fishtank versus looking into a fishtank. There is no comparison. Climbing back out of the water, up a ladder into our boat, with a mostly-full airtank on my back was harder than expected. I need a little lift over the edge, and while slightly embarrassed I couldn’t haul myself completely on board, I was also damn proud that I’d done it!

We rode the boat back into the little harbor, unloaded our gear, and drove back to dive central for a break & snack. Our 2nd dive was a shore entry, in the shallows right off the beach. We walked down the road, loaded up our uber-heavy tanks, and climbed down to the beach. That was hard. Once on the beach, in one of those most beautiful little coves ever, we slowly entered the water, grateful for our double wetsuits (it *is* February, even on a tropical island), and were soon looking at a whole new set of incredibly colorful fishies.

I may not be cut out for deep dives, but shallow dives? With pretty fishies? Sign me up every day!