Grendel and Me
(March Gladness) March ‘09

Bernie Moore

I was talking to Grendel the other day, and the topic was the long dark nights and the relentless cold. I swear the badass of Snowowl has become rather grandfatherly in his behavior and demeanor. His major workout consists of spreading himself carefully onto a patch of sun which stealthily steals across the rug. Its refusal to stay put is an annoying source of consternation for him.
Trying to break him out of his doldrums I proffered a twitchery piece of line. (Old sailors never use the term “string”) It danced enticingly before him, just out of his grasp, and all I got was a shift of glance and disgusted look.
“Look, Boo,” (A sometimes variant of his many nicknames.) as I dangled and danced the line before him.
“Mummph,” he replied as he settled his chin on the carpet raising a little tuft of dust. (Reminder: I gotta vacuum that carpet.)
He closed one eye, keeping one on me just in case I had some other mischief in mind. But soon that eye started to get heavy about the time the rest of him realized that the sun had moved on. This was a classic approach/avoidance conflict, and with a smirk I awaited his resolution..
On the one hand he wanted to be warmer so he could sleep with less effort expended. (Approach) But that meant he actually had to lift his dormant carcass and take two or three steps. (Avoidance)
So there we both were stretched out on the rug, vying for position in the sun when I started to think about what a desperate long winter this has been. January was colder than in years and that was matched with an incredible dump of snow. The only relief February gave us was brevity. My usual “spitting in the wind” gestures were excised; I fear age helped me make the decisions not to do the “Frozen Fin” or the “Ice Dive”. I promise myself to be stronger…soon.
Saturday is the sub mediocre Boston Scuba show with which Gerry and I will attempt to alleviate our cabins fever Don’t correct that, Norm- it’s ok. Later on the 14th of March, a day short of the ides, Eric is having the get- reacquainted-with your-gear session at his home- indoor pool there. This beats the hell out of Fort Wetherill (37) and New London (40). National Oceanic Data Center (NODC)
It feels good just to have gear in hand, even if you have to face the agony of trying on the shrunken wet suit after a lazy winter.(I can prove I’m getting younger by the baby fat I’ve girthed myself with over the winter.) Plenty of time to leisurely test (‘sblood! did that infinitive get split.) each piece of gear and take the critical stuff into the shop for the annual renewal. I’m guessing Eric and Rick can do a lot of that if you want the “professional” touch. To a certain young lady: “Get those regs serviced before I strangle you with them.”
For me it’s time to compete with Grendel for rug space so I can crawl around with my UW DSLR and take macro shots of the thingies the rug has captured over the winter. For myself I have decided to squeeze another year out of my trick knee; been pushing it in the Y pool regularly and hope the conditioning rejuvenates me enough to be a safer diver. As an early riser I leave you with the observation that at the sixes the sky has a gray stain. Helios is returning. Grendel would say good-bye but he’s…busy.