The Sea by Day, Castle by Night, A day in the life...

"The sun's warm glow mingles with the salty breeze that carries the smell of the sea, and the life it fosters, to my nose. Boisterous voices exchange passionate conversations in the street and a familiar voice sings, "Nicky" off the sea-foam-green balcony. It is Dani, my sister. I must be in Sicily!"   

It has been six weeks since my arrival in Sicily, and yes I have been indulging. "Real" pizza has been a meal many times. Bathing in the Mediterranean happens in intervals of 24-hours or less. Oh, and creamy gelato has melted on my tongue and slide down my throat regularly. I have taken it from a cone, from a spoon, through a straw and smeared in the middle of sweet bread, a brioche. Although I can taste the roast in the hazelnut gelato and the pistachio flavor is sweet and salty, the dive season is coming to a close and I feel as though this island and I have shared enough, for now.    


It is rare that travel is routine, but at the dive shop I have had a daily schedule. A day in the life.... 

Each morning begins inside the "Dive Flag Tower." It is 3 levels. Stefania sleeps on the top floor and acts as my alarm as she passes the second floor to start the day.

Task 1 of the day: Prepare Tanks

When all is ready we leave land behind...

We do the work, our guests enjoy the ride

Whenever this life seems like I dream all I need to do is look to Antonio's (the Diveleader in training) arm to remind me where I am

Giovanni, my host and Divemaster, briefs the group on the dive site

"me"

After the dive and after a pasta lunch, it is time to find some shade around the shop

  

The sun falls from its peak and late afternoon arrives.  A soft sensation wakes me from a nap. I give my attention to hear the call of the plants on the hillside garden. They are asking for water.  This place is not an official WWOOF, but it surely is a Barnstorming. 

This terrace style garden is home to a grove of young trees

The fruit love the view

Maybe it's the environment, but some of the plants look like they could be found swimming in the Sea

Night creeps over the tower as blue skies fade to purple. A typical night out is a walk for gelato... 

On the way we see...

Fishing boats eager for morning's catch

Stefania as a shadow model in front of the Castle

The Castle that gives the town its name, Castellammare

On this night a music festival! 

 A lone guitarist wails overhead, in an archway 

 He belongs with this five piece group (if you include the pooch) playing, a funk like trance set, on the steps

 A fire show too...

His name is Bunda and he is from The Czech Republic

Almost forgot the point of the walk...At last

Moon light illuminates the old port town, but when the sun fills the streets I will start it all again

That is until Wednesday when I say goodbye to Sicily...

Azzurro

Update: I have been volunteering at the SCUBA-dive shop Centro Sub Atlantis in Castellamare, Sicily. Position: tank caddy. Duties: moving equipment, filling tanks, overseeing dives, and maintaining up-keep around the shop. Pay: boat-rides, lunch, diving, and starting tomorrow a place to sleep. Please come with me into this journey...


I never remember my last breath of natural air once I am submerge under a body of water. My focus is always on the current breath, which comes from a cast-iron tank attached to my back. As long as my lungs are not deprived, my sight stays heavily absorbed with shades of blue. 


I enter the shimmering sea knowing a WWII shipwreck is soon to be explored, but now in the shallows there is only empty blue underneath. However, distance begins to separate me from the surface. With each meter that adds to the gap I discover light at a depth undetectable from above, but the bottoms is still not visible. Cautious of the possibility that I will drop endlessly into nothing like an anxious dream, I look up to gain comfort from the boat floating overhead. Now a shady figure creates a disturbance in the endless spectrum of blue. Getting closer reveals a body with tremendous size. It is not until I hover over her bow that the ship's whole form is unveiled. 


Viewing the ship from this position I only sense the death of the 1943 sailors, the feeling is morbid, yet calm. She lies to rest 115ft below the waves she used to sit atop of. Death always feels silent, but there is no silence equivelent to the one within the mass of the sea. 


Although it is quiet, the world I am intruding into does not stay hidden for long. Fish swarm and circle with no fear, sea plants and sea fans wave gracefully as I glide by. An Amore Eel snakes out from under a piece of shipwreck. From above I can observe this creature without being detected and without being intimidated. Its dark purple skin ripples gently and the yellow specks along its sides flutter like dandy-lions in the breeze. I feel drawn to this eel, but under water I cannot spend all day. Moving on, in and out of cabins of the ship, through the engine room to the top deck, I stop and look down into a portal showing only blackness. Captured by the mystery of what may be below I stare, and as if it could feel my attention something stirrers. Moment by moment a long thin fish slowly creeps its way out of the hole. The fish is grey, absent of color, like a gost. Its head flat, its eyes white like something without a soul, but I know it sees me. We are looking at each other straight in the eyes. The fish's stair overpowers me. I lose my calm. Slowly, I back away, watching the fish do the same. Respect for the fish also feels like fear. I am an intruder. 

Carlos, a Brazilian man, took these photos on our latest dive (no ship, sorry)

Back on land having been inspired, I write this poem... 


Blue means more than just the sea. Rich and empty, calm and cruel, if you look you can see worlds within worlds. Which do you resist, to which do you flee? 


Enter this blue its layers, its currents. Free yourself of the mystery and drought of the surface, the waves torment all but those who enter. So, enter and sink to where the light from the sun reaches you barely, but its warmth is lost in the molecules above. 
View yourself as the ocean, having a bottom to be discovered. Spend life straining to reach your own deepest parts, and all you will find is blue. This blue, the blues. 


Under the sea I see life. Life among life among death among life. Above I see blue too, with no point of completion far to wide to ponder an end. Whispering possibility with silence, never pulling you apart. View yourself as you view this blue, view yourself as the sky. 

Me (left) going to help another diver who is having trouble near the rocks 

Follow the fish into the abyss