Thinking Like a Fish

With our first successful hitchhiking experience under our belts, Pete and I decided to give it another go. We set out with our snorkel gear for Ke’ei Beach. I stuck out my thumb every time a car went by for nearly two miles, but nothing seemed to work. At least thirty cars must’ve gone by before we gave up and walked the rest of the way. I’m convinced that Pete’s wild hair scared them away. To be fair, one truck did stop, but it was a guy with a dog in the front seat who said, “I’ll take you to the beach but you have to squeeze in the front.” I was about to agree until I saw the beer bottle resting in his hand. I’d rather walk. Besides, he looked creepy.

We were two of four people on the beach, so we figured it was a good time to go snorkeling together. Peter was really patient and helped me adjust my mask and snorkel, and then stayed with me in the shallow water while I tried just breathing for a little while. It turned out to be not so bad when everything fit properly. We meandered through the shallow water, around corral and rocks where the fish were all hanging out, and eventually made it out a little deeper.

I’ve always had an inexplicable fear of fish, but snorkeling was surprisingly peaceful. I could see the fish going about their fishy business rather than allow my imagination to concoct ideas about which ones were waiting to bite my ankle. We saw schools of large, tropical fish, lots of sea urchins, and even a big turtle. It sounds obvious, but the more you study and try to understand something, the less scary it becomes. I can’t wait to go back once we get fins.

It was a truly memorable day. And it was made even better when we got a ride home after less than five minutes of trying. We may have gotten sunburns from our day at the beach, but when we came back there were aloe plants waiting to soothe us. Farm life is full of solutions.