speaking of pictures. i wish i had an underwater camera.
since coming back from guatemala i have been frequenting sand point/magnuson park on lake washington. i take my snorkel, mask, and fins.
i'm not really sure how far down i go, but i'd guess maybe 15 to 20 feet, if that. theres a gentle grade out from the shore and then about 15 - 30 feet out, depending on your location, the grade greatly increases, plummeting down to the murky depths.

luckily for me, within those 20 feet down, there is a gold mine of garbage that must have been dumped when the navy inhabited the area. anything from silverware, teacups, and bottles to bedframes, office chairs, and engine parts can be found clinging to the 45 degree slope.

my original journey consisted of chasing fish that were maybe a foot long, coming up for a breath, then diving back down, finding that the fish had waited around to see what i was up to. . . as curious about me as i was of him.

i later traveled around the perimeter of sand point, which is where i found all this wonderous garbage. rust color dominantes the scene. poking around you can find shards of glass in nearly every square foot. its a good thing people aren't tell feet tall or their feet would be shredded.

around the bend and on to the north side of the point was where the furniture-sized discards resided, as opposed to the more managable garbage on the point itself.

here is when i wish i had the camera. not only are there piles of rubble, blocks of cement slabs 15 feet long, but there were huge metal pieces most bar-shaped, or in some engine-form, but there were these huge pieces that looked like wheels that were about 5 feet in diameter. two of them laid side by side with protruding featrues that look like the spokes of an old wooden wheel. however, the "wheels" were completely filled in, a huge slab of metal (or cement, the algae growing on it makes it hard to decipher). although i don't paint the picture too well, this would have been an awesome picture. i guess cool junk like this would even be more magnified by the bluish-green backdrop into the void of the lake. it was an eerie feeling. i had enough air to go down to one of the wheels, but not enough to go down to the other or to see if i could see if anything lurked underneath them.

speaking of which. i was swimming along, i keep as far out as to just be able to barely see the bottom, when i came across a black, sooty cloud. this was a bit ahead of me, so it couldnt have been my fins' doing. a little cautious, i surveyed the scene. then i saw it. this huge mother fucker. i didnt have enough air to give chase, but this fish was checking out or hanging out under a metal escarpment until my arrival. then he busted out and made a quick fly by me. now, two to two and a half feet may not seem like a lot to you, but when its you and him separated by 10 feet and when you're in his element possibly invading his home, that shit's a bit intimidating. nevertheless, like i may have said, i gave chase, but unlike the smaller fish around the bend, he would have none of that. the smaller fish would allow me to come within an inch of their tail, before they flip it to give that extra burst away from my fingertips. this big fucker plain booked. i guess thats how he got so big. . .
i found other larger fish on that northern side, and they were a bit more tolerable, but they swam at deeper depths, so my chases weren't as fruitful.

my other object of interest was this sole tree that at first looked like some gargantuan monolith. it stood probably 20 feet tall and all alone with no seaweed blocking its glory. a small school of 9-inch fish kept close to it, circling it at different levels, possibly sensing its greatness. for something so large, it seemed to appear out of nowhere. i eventually reached it and poked at it to make sure it was wood and not some metal piling left as an artificial reef for these fish, compliments of the US Navy. nope. wood. tree. 
i stood on its roughened top. it looked like the rest of the tree had broken off in a storm or from years of being waterlogged. it definately wasn't cut. when standing on the tree, i was up to my waist out of the water about 3o feet out from shore. this thing was powerful. it made me feel like jesus. i guess i should grow another beard.

unfortunately, all these sites, even if they are of garbage can't effectively be described well in words  (at least by me). i wish i could share the images of it with you. although you probably still wouldnt get the whole picture. the serenity of being encased in a water environment with the unknown staring you in the face. its like being in acompletely unlit cave, except that pitch black is replaced with a sort of dull blue-green.

what i did hate, was the sound of motorboats and ski-doos. underwater that engine sound hurts the ears with its high-pitched squeal. it also sounds a lot closer than it actually is. when underwater, all that would come to mind was images of manitees butchered by motor blades. a lot to be apprehensive of, and only a 20 second swim to the shore. i know boats and the like give a wide bearth (sp?) from the shore, but i still don't want to leave it up to chance.

the next time i go out, i may just end up shipping out from the dog park. last time i went out i found in the depths a kong, a dog frisbee, and a chew-toy, so i must have been close. when i surfaced i could hear the occasional bark.

so, this is one of the few things that brings me joy lately. i go around noon since i don't work til about 4 and everyone else is off doing their own thing (aka work).
next week i'll have better hours now that that kid is back.
but things just got a bit more complicated, as my boss just found out that they need a lifeguard present every hour that they're open, and not just before and after noon, and my 4 - 10 shift.
so even though that kid's back, i still may see just as much of that place, however, possibly better hours.

my sister's bday today. 25. old ass old.
i'll leave it at that.