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Mermaid Magic

By Simone Lipscomb | July 2, 2015

The week continued with three fun dives today that advanced my mermaid-in-training efforts. Each was different and all were fun.

First, the morning started out with a pre-dawn communion with the sea…and birds, iguanas, gnats and clouds. I felt a loved one I have not seen in over three years join me…at least in my mind and heart…and we watched the sun rise together. A full account of this morning can be found in the previous post.

SimoneLipscomb (19) — ***The current had much of the soft coral looking very bendy.***

Dive One was quite a surprise. Current that was crazy-strong was moving from the north to the south along the reef and it was very difficult to kick against it with The Beast (my large underwater camera housing and strobes). In reality, it would have been difficult without The Beast. It was probably the strongest current this mermaid-in-training has ever experienced in Bonaire. It reminded me of the current at Ginnie Springs…during river flood (when the usual cave flow is slower).

***New friends who played with this mermaid.***

On the second dive a couple of new friends and I started at a site about a quarter mile north and our intention was to drift to the condo complex where our group of 23 people is staying.

We entered the beautiful dive site and started our dive but to my dismay there was hardly any current. So it would be a long swim to our take-out point….a one-way journey. But luckily as we got closer to our destination the current started picking up and delivered us safely to our take-out point in 47 minutes. After another few minutes spent taking photos and such we were out of the water 51 minutes from our start point. There was a lot of kicking involved but we had a little help from the Ocean as it pushed us a bit at the end of our dive.

***The exit point after a quarter mile, one-way swim from out entry point.***

After a required mermaid rest, I returned to the water did another nice dive. But this time, the current was completely reversed. I turned north as it didn’t feel like any current was present but while diving realized the current had reversed and was pushing me so my swim back was a great workout.

Later I wondered what would have happened if the current had shifted during our one-way drift dive. That would have made for a very difficult and interesting swim.

The water temperature began at 81 degrees on Sunday and shifted later that day as the visibility decreased. Water was 79 degrees from Sunday afternoon until this afternoon (Wednesday) which made for a cold mermaid who had prepared for warmer water with a thin wetsuit. But as the current shifted, the water cleared and warmed up! So two more diving days with better visibility and warmer water is what this mermaid hopes for.

Tonight was a special treat as I dined with a family and the two girls are also mermaids in training, taking their first scuba classes this week. We talked of magic, mermaids and dragons. It was wonderful connecting with others who understand the magic of life.

Lessons for the day? 1) Keep my heart and mind open and keep love alive. 2) A little hard work is good for me but if I can go with the flow, instead of against the current, it’s always better. 3) Life, like the currents of the Ocean, can change completely within a few hours. 4) Always dine with other mermaids if possible as the conversation is infinitely interesting and enlightening.

Mermaid Practice…Everything’s Okay

By Simone Lipscomb | June 28, 2015

Crystal-clear, warm saltwater caressed my feet and legs. In the gray, pre-dawn light I stood allowing gentle waves to wash away worries, concerns, grief. The Ocean brought me into the present moment.

The morning ritual, while in my Ocean ‘home’ island of Bonaire, is to gather tiny bits of sea glass, tumbled from the constant irritation of sand and movement. It’s a small beach of honey-colored sand, so soft it made me smile with delight. The tinkling sound of bits of coral clinking together was music made by the Ocean…the soundtrack to my morning.

A dry and exposed wall of fossilized coral protected me from the strong and constant winds of this small desert island. I stood gazing into the water and felt someone looking back at me. My eyes scanned the water as movement within a few feet of me caught my attention.

SimoneLipscomb (33) — *This is NOT a photograph of a sea turtle…just a nice gathering of corals and sponges.*

There, at the edge of the coral and sand, was a small sea turtle. No more than 10 inches across, it was peeking out at me–a lovely little hawksbill turtle. Mermaid practice started early this morning. The lesson? Everything’s okay. In this moment, at this place…all is well. Time to take a break from planetary destruction, humanity’s hate/humanity’s fighting. Time to allow grief, of loved ones lost, pass into another dimension as the present moment embraced me with such beauty. A juvenile hawksbill friend reminded me of this with her intense gaze from her eyes to mine.

After breakfast I gathered dive gear and headed with my buddy down to the water. It felt magnificent to be submerged again, one with the Ocean, breathing on life-support that would allow me over an hour of communing with my brothers and sisters of the sea.

SimoneLipscomb (31) — *Friendly porcupinefish*

A friendly and large porcupinefish escorted me for the first half of the dive, looking back occasionally to see if I was still there. One time he circled back and waited for me when I stopped to look at two spotted moray eels tucked under a coral head. When I turned to head back to the exit point, the sweet, prickly friend waved a fin goodbye. I blew a farewell kiss.

An hour break to hydrate, eat and assemble The Beast–my Aquatica housing for my Nikon D-800 and two massive strobes. I think I should intensify my upper body workouts just to lift the gadgetry.

But once underwater, tools I had only dreamed of in the past became a reality. A big smile erupted from deep within me. This system…this beast of a system…was almost neutrally buoyant…just slightly negatively so. It handled like a dream and produced images with a fisheye lens that made me very happy…finally….I can create images that in some way do justice to the magnificent beauty of this realm, this Ocean of beauty where I find peace.

Before even reaching the drop-off on the reef, three friendly squid played with me and one especially like my dome port. It was a squid dance unequal to any I’ve had in the past. Sometimes they can be shy and evasive but these guys actually invited me to play.

And once again, the larger-than-life porcupinefish met me at our appointed time and posed for a couple of photographs before I turned to head back to dry land….a most challenging proposition for a mermaid-in-training.

Special thanks to my friends Will and Dolphi for helping me and The Beast into and out of the water. It’s a learning experience…accepting assistance and even asking for it (gasp!).

Dancing with Light and Clouds

By Simone Lipscomb | June 4, 2015

I awoke a little before 3am and wrote about a dream I had. Once I finished writing it was after 3.30am and sleep never returned. I heard rumbles of thunder in the distance and decided to get up, grab my camera and tripod and go to the beach for a stormy sunrise shoot. Our turtle team had a sea turtle nest to process later in the early morning hours so why not go early?

When I arrived at the beach it was as if a trapdoor opened and water poured from the sky. According to my radar app it wouldn’t last long so I waited and attached my tripod bracket to the camera as the rain passed through. I wore my GoreTex rain jacket to protect my camera if the heavy clouds offshore changed direction and headed my way.

It was barely light as I walked through wet sand. Lightning was streaking and touching the horizon but according to Spark, my lightning app, it was over 13 miles offshore. The light, clouds and smooth surface of the Gulf soon had all of my attention and I hurriedly attached camera to tripod and began a dance with light and clouds.

The orange-gold light in the eastern sky was softened by low clouds. To the south heavy clouds, nearly touching the surface of the water, created layers of grays, blues, whites with hints of orange. I’ve had friends shooting with me ask what settings I used to achieve certain results and its difficult for me to answer because I don’t think in terms of f-stops and shutter speed. I think about light and saturation of color. I feel the shot I want to capture and simply adjust my camera settings to achieve the emotion I want to share.

The artistry of photography, for me anyway, is to connect with a place or animal and notice the emotion I feel from the connection. From this connection I want to create an image that translates the connection…the emotion…to the photograph and ultimately to viewers.

I do not want to just take good photographs. The experience is why I do it…the connection draws me back to the same places again and again. I go deeper into the essence of the place and myself. I focus on the flow of energy between the place, animals that live there and self.

Dancing with light and color is much better than getting a full night of sleep.

Tilting at Windmills

By Simone Lipscomb | May 15, 2015

Pablo Picasso's Don Quixote — Pablo Picasso’s Don Quixote

“Do you see over yonder, friend Sancho, thirty or forty hulking giants? I intend to do battle with them and slay them. With their spoils we shall begin to be rich for this is a righteous war and the removal of so foul a brood from off the face of the earth is a service God will bless.” Thus spoke Don Quixote in the novel written in the early 1600’s.

Equipment removing tar mats from Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge Summer 2010

There are times when I feel very much like Don Quixote. He might not have doubted his sanity but I doubt mine as I work to bring light to the environmental issues facing all of us. It feels like an unrealistic, impractical or even impossible goal. It may be noble but sometimes it seems completely unrealistic and perhaps even delusional.

The goal I set for myself is to be a bridge between nature and humanity. A bridge that raises awareness, increases communication and ultimately helps human and non-human life.

I believe the only way to help the planet is to help humans connect with…fall in love with…nature. This love will create compassion, care and wise stewardship. But there are days when it just feels as if the windmills…or oil rigs…or congressmen…or CEO’s…..really are hulking giants that will continue to destroy our Ocean planet…no matter how many crazy people like me write, photograph, document, sing or raise awareness through positive action.

There is no Sancho friend on this journey with me so at times the journey seems lonely. Yet today, as I cycled through the backcountry of Gulf State Park, I was reminded that humans are a part of nature. Every plant, animal, insect…everything is connected like diamonds in a web. So therefore, I am never alone. And neither are you. Perhaps our greatest error is to think we are separate, alone, divorced from that which sustains us.

For the past nine years I have dedicated my life to working full-time to help people connect with nature through writing, photography and videography. Living off of retirement funds and investing in equipment, book publication and travel to document unique places or species and to present programs to anyone who will listen, I have many times doubted my sanity. Why not just relax and forget this work?

Because…..Love knows no boundaries. I came into this life to make a positive difference and even if I’m tilting at those proverbial windmills, at least I am doing something.

SimoneLipscomb (9) — Latest version of the cover of my new book

The past couple of days have been challenging and pesky doubts have arisen. But when I checked my mailbox today I had another partner for my new book, Manatee Mindfulness, with a note from my friend that said, “You’re doing great work Simone! Rock on!”

Perhaps I’m not delusional after all. I’m thankful for the reminder from sweet friends! And from nature that reminded me today of the web of life that connects all life to this Ocean planet. We are always connected, never alone.

Sound Magic

By Simone Lipscomb | May 5, 2015

Today as I unloaded my bicycle from the rack, exchanged flip flops for cycling cleats, and donned a helmet, I felt a distinct urge to leave the ear buds and John Butler Trio behind and focus on the sounds of nature. Generally I like this particular music as it has a perfect beat for cycling; however, the ear buds stayed behind and I set the intention of paying attention to nature’s music.

I had barely rounded the first curve when the wind pushed me. Yikes!! Where did this come from? Isn’t it going to be a fun ride?

First, I noticed my ears experienced a loud roar that comes with increased speed. As I listened past the sound of rushing wind, I noticed tall pines and their long needle foliage were whispering. As I begin the first part of the eighteen miles through the back country of the park, the swishing whispers of the pines was constant.

Then scrubby live oak trees rattled in the wind. And the tires on my bicycle crunched dried leaves as I rolled over them. As I tuned my ears, I began hearing other sounds…sweet sounds of birds.

Birds serenaded as I whirled past. Species changed according to trees and other vegetation found nearby. Pines, scrubby oaks, marsh grasses all harbored different singers. Tweets, trills, whistles…wings flapping filled the morning air.

While riding through a large expanse of very wet marsh, the sound of the tall sedges dancing in the wind was soft and lovely. Nearing the end of the passage through the area, a mourning dove and purple gallinule flew at the same time. The heavier-beat of the dove’s wings flapped while the gallinule’s wings created a softer sound of feathers moving through air. Music.

A squirrel scurrying up the bark of a pine tree….small animals moving in the underbrush…a lizard rushing across leaves….water dripping through a drain pipe….traffic sounds in the distance….another cyclist saying good morning as we passed….my cleats on concrete as I stop to refill my water bottle….

Focusing on sound kept me in the present moment where magic is experienced. I completed the ride feeling peaceful and in tune with nature. In tune with myself.