Snorkeling @ MindSay 
EUGENE, Oregon (AP) -- A snorkeler who was shot in the face after he was apparently mistaken for a swimming rodent was in good condition after surgery, a hospital said Saturday.
John William Cheesman, 44, of Springfield, underwent eight hours of surgery Thursday to remove bullet and bone fragments from his face, said his wife, Shelley Cheesman.
"He's doing really well," Shelley Cheesman said. "The bullet hit in front of his right ear, where the bone is the most dense. It just fragmented and didn't go into his brain."
He was listed in good condition at Oregon Health & Science University Hospital in Portland.
William Roderick, 60, of Reedsport, has been charged with assault, being a felon in possession of a firearm, and possession of methamphetamine and marijuana. He was being held in the county jail.
Roderick told deputies he thought Cheesman was a nutria swimming in the Smith River near Reedsport, about 90 miles southwest of Eugene, and shot him with a .22-caliber rifle, police said.
A nutria is a water-dwelling South American rodent species that is larger than a muskrat but smaller than a beaver. It was introduced to U.S. waters in the 1940s, according the National Wildlife Federation.
Cheesman, an avid diver, was in the river looking at different species of fish, his wife said. He swam to the river bank and yelled for help.
Roderick and another man came to Cheesman's aid in a boat, called 911 and drove him to an ambulance.
"I do give him credit for helping him," Shelley Cheesman said of Roderick.
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/02/10/snorkeler.shot.ap/index.html
The One that got away... hehehehe...
The nutria is bigger than a muskrat, smaller than a beaver. It is abundant in Louisiana and common in several other states.
With only two days left in our Middle Eastern stay and with our classes having finished, my program spent today and yesterday in Aqaba, Jordan’s Red Sea resort city. Throughout the past month Amman has been quite cold with the average temperature hovering around the low 40’s; however, right on the Red Sea, Aqaba’s average temperatures are about 30 degrees higher than Amman’s. Luckily, the weather did not disappoint one bit.
I found myself comfortably wearing shorts during the afternoons of both days. Just like the weather, the water of the Red Sea was very warm and comfortable. The afternoon of our second day was amazing as we hung out on a boat all day and snorkeled. While the Middle East may not be the first thing that pops into one’s mind when thinking about destinations for snorkeling, it actually has amazing coral reefs and sea life. The views that I saw below the surface were simply breathtaking.
Another very cool part of the boat ride was the fact that from where the boat was anchored in the Red Sea you could see Israel, Jordan, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia all from the same spot. The Four Corners of America’s Southwest had nothing on this sight and experience.
After spending a full day in the sun and water, my group and I enjoyed the night life of Aqaba.
Aqaba’s nightlife certainly caters to foreign tourists and the more liberal minded members of Jordanian society. For example, there are many alcohol stores. In addition, night clubs dot every corner with some being a little shadier than others. Having not seen any belly dancers since we had been in the Middle East, my friends and I decided to go and try to find a club in Aqaba that had some; however, the place that we were told to go to was a little sketchy. The belly dancer, a Russian, was not that good. I wasn’t that surprised though as I was told the only good ones were in Damascus and Cairo. Either way though, the sketchiness of the club made the story a fun one. After this we went back to our rooms ready to return to Amman for our last day in Jordan.
Copyright 2006 Susan L. Friesen
SEA DREAMS
I feel like reminiscing tonight, so am sharing some memories with y’all:
A CHILDHOOD MEMORY…..
I am floating on my back past the breakers, watching summer clouds roll by. I float for about 10 minutes, completely relaxed, feeling the water flow underneath my back--saltwater that gains intensity as it peaks and crashes into brilliant white foam toward shore.
I start treading water and my heart leaps when I see something scary. I spot fins. Thinking they’re sharks, I slowly swim, trying not to splash and draw attention to whatever belongs to those fins.
Suddenly, I notice the sharks aren’t sharks at all, but a pod of friendly Pacific white-sided dolphins. Still adrenaline-driven because of my fear of sharks (not knowing what kind of sharks these were!), I head to shore and don’t allow the dolphins to come closer. I stand on shore, watching the dolphins leap into the air and swim toward the direction of Catalina Island. My regret to this day is not staying still and allowing the dolphins to come near and interact with me.
TEENAGE MEMORIES…………..
I grew up only ½ mile from the Pacific Ocean as a teenager. Many days instead of doing homework in the nice warm living room, I’d bicycle to an area south of the Huntington Beach (California) pier, climb a lifeguard tower, and read my books there. I loved being in that tower--a fine vantage point to seeing the wave sets, surfers, beachcombers, and shorebirds. Believe it or not, I got my homework done better there than at home, too.
Our high school offered snorkeling as a physical education class in summer school. I joined the Skin and Scuba Club back then. To this day, one of my favorite hobbies—which I hope to do more in the future—is snorkeling.
ADULT MEMORIES…………
The past few years, I’ve been blessed to enjoy snorkeling in some amazing places, like the Bahamas, Grand Cayman, and Hawaii. I attended the Maui Writer’s retreat and convention last year. Each morning before attending writing classes, I snorkeled in the most amazing coral reef. You can read more about my adventure in Maui here: http://susanfriesen.blogspot.com/
Last Fall, I snorkeled in “Stingray City,” Grand Cayman. I pet and fed giant stingrays that weighed more than 200 lbs and watched a scuba diver feed a moray eel and a shark. I took my first photos using an underwater throwaway camera.
People tell me that if I like snorkeling, I’ll fall in love with scuba diving. Someday, I’d love to do that. My dream is to scuba in Belize, the Great Barrier Reef off Australia; and, locally in the ocean off Monterey and Big Sur, California. The older I get, though, the more I appreciate a warm, tropical sea, like in Hawaii. We were blessed to see many Hawaiian islands these past few years. In Kona, on the big island of Hawaii, I loved swimming so close to the endangered hawksbill turtle, I watched it eating moss off rocks. In Hanauma Bay, south of Honolulu, my husband needed to ask another swimmer to get me, as I was so engrossed in the snorkeling experience I lost track of time. I’d swum way out to sea. We could have missed our flight back to California. But, oh well? Marooned in balmy Hawaiian seas…a nice dream…. Aloha! Susan
God article on snorkeling http://www.tomzap.com/snorkel.html
Definition of snorkeling from http://www.dictionary.com --
A breathing apparatus used by swimmers and skin divers, consisting of a long tube held in the mouth.
Etymology: [German Schnorchel, from dialectal, nose (from its resemblance in shape to a nose).]
So Hawaii. Kainoa and his parents and i all went to Maui the week after homecoming. (Homecoming was way fun btw) I had never been there so i had no idea what was in store. The weeks before- i didnt even belive i was going. It was weird. But as promised, we took off. I love flying so i was thrilled to fly over an ocean which is said to be 'nothing special'? Well it was fun. We landed after about an 4 and a half hours. It was super humid and warm. After we got into our hotel - which was beautiful and had a ocean view - we decided it was time to eat and we went to the Hula Grill. Very yummy. Then we went for a long walk on the beach. cliche? yes - but we really did. It was rediculously beautiful and there was a really cool sunset. The next day was devoted to mostly shopping in Whaler's Village. We also watched a hula show in the shopping center put on by mostly keiki's (children). They were so cute and damn could they shake! After that, the rest of the week was kind of one big blur of amazing fun.
My favorite thing was deffinetley snorkeling in Molokini and Turtle Town. We took this hella cool tour out there and i couldnt wait to get in. I was THE FIRST to find the turtles at Turtle Town. they said we should let the crew know if we saw any so they could tell the people who were looking for them. Fuck that I saw those turtles FIRST and i wasnt going to let those damn white people take my turtles. So i took my pictures, played with them, touched them, swam with them etc... Once i was done i left just as the white people swarmed to them. (suggested tag: "fuck white people") Haha. Molokini was amazing. The water was SO clear - you could see sooo far and deep! There were so many pretty fish and i enjoyed taking pictures of them. I then caught wind that there was an eel somewhere. So naturally i felt the necessity to dive down as far as i could go to see it. DAMN was it awesome! more people came to look but apparantly couldnt dive that deep? so i dove several times to point out where it was to the surface going tourists. We then had to get back on the boat for lunch and the long trip back. Upon my arrival to the boat, several people told me things like "How do you dive so low?" and "You got deep girl!". I of course thanked them and decided to forgive them for being lame white tourists.
I also went parasailing. It was waaay cool. I had wanted to parasail for as long as i could remember. I got on this boat along with Kainoa, his mom and michael, and a couple from tennese. We all talked and then we got out to where we could go. kainoa's parents went first. it looked like so much fun i couldnt wait to go! so finally, kai and i got to go. we got up to 800 feet! the water was so amazing and beautiful. We saw large fish eventhough the very misinformed and confused Kainoa is convinced they were 'dolphins!' So as we were brought in, the guys driving the boat do this simulated free fall thing. that was cool, but right as you are about to hit the water they go really fast and you are supposed to skim your feet on the water. well the told us before hand that there would be no 'skimming' for us. we would get DUNKED. and as promised - we got dunked. but it turned out to be to my advantage. the straps that hold you in are designed to sit on and not go up your butt. but as we were dunked and dragged through the water, kainoa's straps got pulled up his ass SO BAD! as we came up from the water, i looked to my right and saw that kainoa was considerablly lower then i was and upon further ivestigation, i realized that the straps gave him THE HUGESTS camel toe ever. He yelled something along the lines of "AAAH! IT'S CUTTING OFF MY BALLS!" ahahahahahah i couldnt stop laughing. i just pointed at him and laughed all the way until we got back onto the boat.
We also went to a Luau. It was so awesome! we get there and they put these cool lei's on us and they seat us on the tables right in front of the stage on the grass. It was so cool - the tables were super low and we got to sit on cool pillows and everything. The food was SUPERB. probably the best food ive ever eaten in my life. And i am starting to get bored with how long this is so i am going to go through the rest super fast.
We had this hella hot waiter. Kai's mom said he was too big and that i "could only date him." hmmm breakfasts were all good. coconut syrup was the most amazing thing ever. their condo was beautiful. more shopping. lots of local boys at Makena Beach - much to my delight. Ulalena was the most amazing show i had ever seen. Maui aquarium was way cool. We ate a lot and had sooo much wonderful food. tWe were sad when we had to go. I came back and went to school the next day very tired and very brown. I had SOOOO MUCH fun in Hawaii!!!
Maui nō ka 'oi!!!
