Tuesday, February 21, 2006...4:49 pm
The Cathedral, My Cathedral in Anilao
Funny how it’s always been just a novice diver’s site for me all this time. Always the site where we take the students once they’ve completed all the exercises required for the PADI open water diver course. I was unable to appreciate the place as a newbie. I was too worried, too scared, wound up way too tight to really see what was in there. For a year, all I could remember about the site was the cross, the huge mound, and the huge school of fish that clamored for my fingers (although, at this point it is very clear to me that there weren’t that many fish that day, and they weren’t really swarming. I was just mostly overwhelmed.).
The Cathedral has a cross right in between two huge rocks. Normally, you wouldn’t be able to see the cross because of the gazillion fish.(okay, I exaggerate, but ask our students, and I’m sure they will agree with me.)
I went diving in Cathedral last February 12, 2006. It was a Sunday. We went on an early morning dive in very cold water. The visibility was bad. Bleak day, and a lot of silt and other specks floating around. I was supposed to navigate, but I lost my nerve yet again. I always seem to have trouble finding that place. I was set on assisting the new kid. I wanted to show him how nice it was. I wanted to make it special for him to allay his fears, and convince him that diving is indeed very easy and relaxing. I sought to change him. Instead, I was the one who changed. I am the one who will never look at that place the same way again. My sanctuary was broken. (a bit like having someone part the heavy curtains on a sunny day.) I am the one who had an extraordinary dive. (perhaps an extraordinary day, and week, probably months, maybe a year or two..who knows really?)
I’d like to tell the world how my life changed that day, but I fear that doing so will make the magic of it wear off. I will think about it. Someday maybe, I’ll have the urge to tell the story, and it could be enough to get me to write about it here. For now, I keep it all to myself, and pray that it doesn’t dry up like the tears on my face.
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