Missing that bottomless cup

No matter how long the trip, sometime before it's over, that feeling of homesickness hits. Like this morning when ordering "One 'flat white' and one 'long black with extra water," and paying $6.50, I thought to myself, I'm tired of paying so much for coffee I don't really like. I missed my coffee maker. I was tired of the coffee bags we used at the campground, and I found myself wondering, "Where's the filtered coffee in this country!"
I also woke up at four am this morning thinking, "Leo is too big for this tent; he's taking up more than half, my half!" So it was time to think about returning home. But in the meantime, we would live the island life...nice and easy. Thanks to Alice and Chuck, we avoided Paihia and drove directly to Russell in the Bay of Islands near the top of the North Island. It rained the entire day, which was okay since it was a driving day.
We left Goat Island campground right after breakfast. What a great place to stay. It was one of things on my list after our Malcolm and Helen adventure. Snorkeling in the Marine Reserve of Goat Island sounded perfect. And it was. I rented fins, snorkel and mask for ten bucks from Fiona, the campground owner. We drove to the beach but should have walked the 500 meters. Families with kids playing in the surf covered the black sand and I saw a dozen snorklers in the water beyond the rocks. I put on my fins and clumsily whacked my way over the sand to the water's edge. It was cold. Maybe that was why Fiona also rented wet suits for ten bucks. I got into the water and put on my mask. I put my face in the water, then immediately came out sputtering. I calmed myself down and tried to remember the lesson years ago in Thailand. Oh, yeah, blow out and the salt water will escape through that little opening by the mouthpiece but not come back in. I slowed my breathing down a bit and gliding along the water's surface.
What a disappointment! The water was too murky to see anything! I felt cheated at first. But the further I swam, the clearer the water and suddenly, looking below me I saw a sting ray. A small one, hugging the bottom, but definitely a sting ray. Okay, guy, stay where you are and I won't bother you...I swam on. I also saw some striped fish, bottom feeders too. I was getting cold so I came back to the shore.
Leo was lying on the beach reading. "How was it?" He asked, looking up from his book. "Great!" I said, knowing I would go right back in as soon as I got warm. And I did. That next time I saw beautiful blue fish. And I got further out into the water. After a few minutes I saw I was halfway to Goat Island. I wanted to go but swimming by myself made me nervous. I wasn't really afraid of the water or the fish but just the unknown. So I came back to shore. "Guess that's all for today," I said. But as I sat on my towel in the sun, I kept watching a group of people standing over by the rocks. They were all staring into the water. "I'm going to see what's what over there." I picked up my fins and mask and delicately stepped over the lava-formed rocks. When I got to the group of people, I looked down into this water passageway between two massive forms of rocks. I saw not only the beautiful blue fish but also giant snapper. "Wow," I said to a woman standing next to me. "They've been here for years," she said affectionately. I carefully slipped on the fins, sat down gently onto the rough rock, put on my mask and slid into the water. I began swimming through the passageway towards the island. Giant snapper were swimming beneath me, passing me like unhurried distracted tourists. Only I was the visitor and they were the locals. As I had swam out from the rocks I noticed the space from land to the island was much less on this side of the beach. I also saw a group of people on the rocks of the island. I kept swimming. It took me only a few minutes to get to the island. I pulled myself onto the rocks. I did it! I'm here, I cried to myself. I felt like I had completed some task I had unconsciously set for myself. Checked that off the list, I thought to myself.
Today we will rent kayaks and paddle around the bay. That's the other thing on my list. And then I will be ready to go "home." Last night Leo and I had a conversation with a young French couple. I felt obligated to explain "home." I first apologized to them about our country's behavior towards the French in the first months when we invaded Iraq. I told them I was embarrassed by it. They asked about Bush and the elections. I was having trouble explaining why almost half the votes had gone to him in both elections. (I still don't concede that he won EITHER election.) But I refuse to say that Americans are stupid. I don't think they are; they're just scared. Fear causes people to act like they're stupid, I guess.
And as for our president...I recently read a bumper sticker sent to me by a friend. It said, "Bush never exhaled..." maybe that explains it. Things are crazy. I'm ready for home.