The waitress set another round of Brights on the table. I squeezed the lime through the hole, leaving bits of pulp on the rim, and used my pinky finger to push it into the beer. Then I tipped the bottle up and watched the bubbles as my taste buds swam with delight. I munched on the remnants of Leslie’s french fries and tried to ignore the half-eaten steak lying on my plate, daring me to take another bite. I was stuffed, and knew full well I had no business finishing the rest of that great tasting tenderloin. I also knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that when I walked away from the table, it would be gone. Completely. Les, Smack, and I were at Bobbyjans, dodging the mosquitoes and enjoying each other’s company. With Smack, an aviation mechanic/inspector, and me, a pilot/flight instructor, our conversations often turned aeronautical. I can always talk airplanes, and it seemed Smack has the same affliction. Leslie repositioned in her chair, looked at the sky, and played with the label on her bottle. She likes airplanes and is my best navigator, but I sensed she was growing bored with the line of talk. I’m a pilot, scuba diver, AND smart husband, so naturally, I changed the subject. “Hey, Les," I said, “anyplace new you want to try for lunch this week?" With no trace of any previous guilt, I cut a piece of tenderloin and slid it in my mouth. Why postpone the inevitable? Smack chimed in. “Tom and I use to go to Lover’s Ice Cream for lunch." I thought about it for a moment then shook my head. “Yeah, doesn’t Lover’s serve sandwiches and hot dogs and such?" And for some reason, I added, “And beer?" Smack tilted his head and looked at me as if I had suddenly sprouted a dorsal fin. “Sandwiches? Hot dogs?" He paused; maybe for effect; maybe for no reason at all. “Since when," he continued, “is ice cream NOT considered a lunch?" Wow. Good point. For the next two rounds of Brights, the three of us discussed the nutritional values of ice cream and how it makes a spectacular lunch. We concluded that, depending on the flavor, it contains at least three of the major food groups. And, if you have it in a waffle cone -- and who wouldn’t? -- you add some grains and roughage. An almost perfect lunch. And today, Leslie and I proved it. She had two scoops of something (does it matter?) and I had a scoop of strawberry -- both on waffle cones. I have to say, today’s lunch was Dee-lish. A lot has happened in the last few days. We have made a bunch of dives, including Pink Beach, The Rock, Karpata, Alice in Wonderland, Bari Reef, The Lake, and 1000 Steps. At Pink Beach, we came across a beautiful spotted eagle ray feeding in the shallows. Even with three photographers snapping pictures, he just carried on with his business. I’m wondering if maybe some of these creatures are becoming so “humanized” that they don’t even notice our presence any more. I would hate to see the underwater world become some sort of petting zoo. We have encountered several turtles. Again, one of them -- I can’t remember where -- didn’t mind our presence. He was feeding on coral or whatever and just kept going, totally ignoring us. As I imagined his thoughts, I couldn’t help but smile: “Please, you bubble blowers, just take you pictures and be gone with you. You’ve already tagged me in both front flippers and everyday at least one of you blinds me with your flashes. Just do your thing and let me eat!" We enjoyed toying with some horse-eyes jacks who were protecting a bait ball at The Rock. They didn’t appreciate me entering the ball and possibly disturbing their potential lunch plans. A couple of the bigger ones swam real close and made a few passes, doing their best impersonation of tough guys. But I don’t intimidate easily. And for Vince’s delight, in the last two days, we have seen three large groupers at three geographically dispersed dive sites. And one was a behemoth. As I’m sure it does everyone, it gives me hope... On Friday, it rained hard for about an hour and a half. I have never seen it rain so hard for so long on Bonaire. There was even thunder and lightening. It actually prevented us from diving. Rain is one thing, but there’s something about strapping metal to my back with lightening in the area. Since they will be closed for the next two weeks, and because it is probably our favorite restaurant on the island, this evening we hit Pasa Bon Pizza. We had dinner with Smack, and ordered enough takeaway for several lunches. Again, the Brights flowed. Smack dove the east side today, and to prove it, showed us the wounds. Sounds like a lot of work to me. I’ll stick to the west side -- plenty of nice sites and enough things to see to keep me entertained for several more trips, if not a lifetime. And sadly, yesterday, we said good-bye to Doug and Nadine. Although Les and I are on Bonaire for two weeks, they only stayed for one. They are great people and we love them dearly. Every time we are together -- and it isn’t nearly enough -- we always promise to meet up soon, but we all know how that goes. Life has a way of setting its own agenda and, for some reason, we always just fall inline. Like Post Bonaire Depression, sometimes, we seem to have little control. Parked along the road, we watched as Delta flight 664 sped down the runway at Flamingo International Airport. We felt bad for our friends who had to leave, but we basked in the fact that we had six more days of diving. Six more glorious days on Bonaire. Six more beautiful sunsets. An entire vacation for some. We put aside the fact that the next time Delta Flight 664 sped down the runway at Flamingo International Airport, we would be onboard. Dive on Friends. Dave & Leslie.
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