You've Got to Know When to Hold 'Em........
/This past weekend, we were supposed to be diving the river on Saturday and White Star Quarry on Sunday. Unfortunately, both days ended up being a bust. Aaron had an emergency at work and in the span of three days managed to put in something close to 48 hours of work. Needless to say, I am glad that the situation is taken care of and that I am no longer a work-widow (my own adaptation of "deer camp widow," a Yooper euphemism).
Saturday, it was discovered that there was still ice covering a significant portion of the White Star Quarry - too thick to be considered for open water diving, but too thin to be able to ice dive. Ahh, spring, how I loathe thee sometimes! We were not about to let a little ice ruin our dive day though! Off to the river! It was a beautiful, but windy, morning. The sun was shining, the birds were chirping and the river was flowing. Man, was she flowing! Current was stronger than last weekend. Aaron had already planned to not dive since he was so tired from work, but I took one look at it and called it before I ever got in. Another friend of ours, Jill, did the same. At least I wasn't alone! Two in our group still choose to dove; both are more-experienced river divers than we are.
I had this feeling that THAT would be the day I would find an awesome bottle! I was so bummed sitting on the shore, waiting for our friends. Although, I did have fun watching Jill's twin daughters play on the small icebergs that had drifted to shore. The only saving grace that day was that those who chose to dive, didn't find anything remarkable. It made my decision not to dive slightly more bearable. Probably not what they wanted to hear!
There's a saying in diving: "Anyone can call a dive at any time for any reason and not feel bad about it." (calling a dive: choosing either to end a dive once it has begun or not begin a previously planned dive) We are going into an environment where we aren't meant to be. I think it shows great maturity in a diver to know when to call a dive because he or she doesn't feel safe, recognizes that the conditions are outside of their training and experience, or realizes that they may not be fully equipped (mentally and physically) for a dive. However, it is equally important that one's dive buddies also support the diver's decision and not make him/her ashamed for calling a dive. It is times like this that I have to remind myself that it's more important to live, and dive another day.
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