En Route

Part of what Flying Gurnards & Other Concoctions usually displays are the maps of routes taken since leaving home. The neat orderly geographical drawings always puts the roads traveled more in perspective. But a month after my brief emergency visit I have returned to Northern Ireland and it seemed more fitting to share the two images below than a pictured part of an atlas.
Two years ago I took that photo of the small village on the Irish Sea. It will be my home for now.
And below it a parting shot of one of my Arab buddies, who clambered into my suitcase whilst packing and gave me his solemnly sweet Cyclops stare. It hurts leaving the two dudes behind, more than I can describe. The worst is that it is not my choice, leaving them behind. They just couldn't come where I was going.

Although her major neck and face surgery in September was a success my Mother is in the race for the long haul: A grueling radio therapy period is on the horizon and will last until Christmas Eve day. It will affect her health deeply on many levels and I admire her brave perseverance greatly. So I have left the Middle East, diving and my two feline dudes and I am going to stand by her side. The boys are being well taken care of and won't have to learn how cold COLD weather can be whereas I threw out my last pair of flipflops and am learning what shoes feel like again (Hello, blisters)

Apart from the heart ache of leaving Khabil and Jamal I have plenty of reasons to be superbly grateful for life's happenings and this also entails the decision of moving to N-Ireland. I'll be able to hold my Mum close when things get ugly. I will also get to harass some family and friends who live around these parts. And I will get to experience the changing of the seasons again and play in the snow (I love snow!)

Always stay in tune for what life brings up to bat. Cause you should always take a crack at it, and never ever forget to smile while you're at it. You might hit a homerun and run around cheering like a maniac.

Scary Butterfly

One thing I have never done in my life is celebrate Halloween underwater. And this year I was getting real stoked about the idea, asking friends and diver customers about cool costume tips that would make big waves so to speak.
Now I didn't want anything that would compromise diver safety. Or be damaging to the marine environment. So that whittled away at the options available and unlike as a friend of mine suggested I was certainly not dressing up as a mermaid. I am not that cheesy, unless it comes to real cheese like brie or wacky Dame Edna-style sunglasses.
Of course I thought of my new sunglasses. I have a certain affinity for tacky ones and back home I have been seen wearing useless raver sunnies during local baseball games. It made catching the ball so much harder but boy the shades were so ugly it was funny and therefore totally worth it.
My friend Scuba Ninja Livvie was slightly envious of my new sunglasses, asking me to buy her a pair too because (and I quote) "...Aww but I want to have a butterfly to have sex with my face too."
Yep, the sunglasses are THAT Special. So I thought, what a great idea I could be a Butterfly Fish for Halloween! It would totally compromise standards of diving safely but it would look so awesome!

In the end I did not even get to dive on Halloween. Nor have I worn my Butterfly Shades much cause it is too bright in the Middle East. And soon after that there was no diving to be had for a long time. But what I do know is that whenever I will encounter Butterfly Fish in the future I will think of Livvie and my sunglasses with a cheeky smirk on my face.

Butterfly Fornication Shades

I wasn't kidding about playing baseball with blinders on