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All Creatures Great and Small

So I've come to another end of another dive trip.  I rarely post about them anymore, because I keep all the details in my log book.  However, I can't help but share just a thought.

I grew up with the James Herriott series, All Creatures Great and Small.  He wrote four books with titles reflecting the words of the song:

All things bright and beautiful,
All creatures great and small.
All things wise and wonderful,
The Lord God made them all.

As a good Episcopalian school girl, we students frequently sang that song also during morning vespers.  I've always loved it.

Being underwater, I can't help but have that song come to mind.  There is a world of wonder underneath the Caribbean blue water that few see, but that is so beautiful.  This week, we have been fortunate to see everything that was on Glo's bucket list...and more.

Off the wreck of the Kittiwake, we saw two spotted Eagle rays, but they weren't "flying" off in the distance.  They were just twenty feet from us, and just five feet off the sand.  One of them ended up swimming right in front of us (dancing almost), and it was just miraculous.

We saw a lot of stingrays.  It was just stingray after stingray after stingray.  The best part, of course, was diving with them.  They are so soft to the touch, and so gentle.  Sometimes, I can't even believe that I get to be part of their world when I'm under the water.  And how kind of them to let me handle them and be with them.

Turtles.  You can't come to Grand Cayman and not see turtles.  While we saw at least one or two on every one of our dives, we headed out on Sunday to try and find some on a local beach.  Turns out, Spotts Beach is shallow enough that anyone can snorkel in four feet of water and see turtles and rays right at your feet.  It's not an advertised spot, so it's not groomed at all.  Just natural and beautiful.  We never do any kind of water sports on Sundays, but this felt like a Sunday hike, admiring nature, but under the water.  And believe me, I was reminded once again of the beauty of God's creations.  Those little lemon rays are the cutest!

Fish.  The kaleidoscope of colors underneath the water is amazing.  So many colors on all different fish.  There was a guy who had just been snorkeling who was cleaning a parrot fish on the beach.  I couldn't watch him, because it made me so sad to think of all that beauty being eaten.  I know, silly, but true.  Glo was working on earning her Advanced Open Water Diver certification, and so she had to pass off the fish identification portion of the class.  It really opens your eyes to all that is under the water, and I was reminded once again of all creatures great and small.


See that creature stuck to Glo's hand?  It's called a "sea biscuit", and it's one of my most favorite creatures under the water.  It looks like a rock, but it's actually very much alive.  When you pull it off whatever it's attached to, it immediately sucks onto your hand...and starts moving!  It's the coolest feeling ever.  When we sunk down to the Kittiwake and were waiting for John to get down, I couldn't resist having Glo show off the sea biscuit's cool factor :-). And kudos to Glo for smiling for the picture without her regulator!  This is at a good 40 feet, and she's the master!

I wish I could share all of this with other people.  It makes me so happy.  In fact, after our last dive yesterday, I literally threw myself into John's arms and started sobbing.  It makes me so sad to leave it all because I love it so much.  There's no denying that the Lord God, did indeed, make them all.

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