Growing Old Together in the Tuamotus

There have always been two times in the year that we are traditionally crazed….One is December, around the holidays (along with 95% of the rest of the population of the U.S.) and the other is the period of time from the 1^st of May until the middle of June.  Call it poor planning, lack of insight, or just plain bad (or good, depending on your perspective) luck, but during that 6 weeks, we have (in order of event) John’s birthday, Mother’s Day, our Anniversary, Josh’s birthday, my birthday, and Father’s Day.  Along with that, we have too many friends to mention who also have birthdays during the month of May/June…Heck, on the 5^th of May alone, we have 5, count ‘em, 5 friends with a birthday!  If the period between Thanksgiving and Christmas is traditionally known as the party that keeps on partying, then, for us, this time in May is her big summer sister!

Years ago, when the kids were young, it was even more chaotic because this was also the time of year that school was over and yyesss!! summer was  upon us!  Honey, let’s take the boys camping over Memorial Day! Kathy, can you help organize the last day of school party?  Mom, can we have a pool party and sleep-over with 10 of our best buds??  Bah humbug….  By the time my birthday rolled around and John would ask what I wanted for my birthday, my reply was usually Peace, quiet and tranquilty! Ha!

Now, of course, things are very different.  The kids are grown and celebrate their birthdays in their own homes….Mother’s and Father’s Days get a hug and a Hallmark….Mystic Moon has pretty much become our anniversary gift to each other in perpetuity….And our birthdays?  We try to ignore them, but it seems they roll around every year anyway.

And so it is I find myself this morning yet another year older.  I mean I guess that’s a good thing, since obviously the alternative really sucks, but I don’t know…..This year I feel, well, old….And tired….And grumpy….and totally out of sorts.  WTH is wrong with me??  Here I sit in the beautiful Tuamotus of French Polynesia in a funk.

Maybe it’s the wind….It’s been blowing stink since we arrived in Toau and shows no signs of abating.  Right now, it’s blowing 16-20kts consistently, yesterday it blew 20-25kts, and tomorrow it’s forecast to blow 25-30kts.  And not just that….There’s a huge storm in the Southern Ocean that’s been sending 15-20 foot seas into our waters, riding directly underneath all that wind chop, so we’re stuck here for the duration, which right now appears to be until Thursday of this week.

Which wouldn’t be so bad except I am a klutz.  I have always been an uncoordinated klutz. When I was a young girl in school, I would dread P.E.  Always the last to be picked for any team, my schoolmates knew that I couldn’t come close to hitting a ball.  Golf?  Tennis?  Forget it.  Could never do the eye-hand coordination thing.  Ride a bike?  Yep, had that covered, but after a few painful wipeouts, learned to take it slow and easy and always carry bandaids.  As a young adult, I figured running was about all that was left to me in that department, so that’s what I did…..I ran.  But even then, I’d find the only rock on the street or collide with a dog and come home with the occasional skinned knee and elbow or maybe a turned ankle or 2.  To my knowledge, “She walks in grace and beauty” was not once uttered about me.   I am a klutz.

Which brings me back to why I’m in such a state at being stuck in Toau.  See, the book describes this place as a “diver’s paradise” for those who have their own equipment and compressor, which we do.  The problem is I can’t dive right now because back in Fakarava, leaving the boat of some friends, the wind and chop had picked up, and I wiped out while attempting to get into the dinghy.  Well, not my first rodeo and not the first time Moon Lite and I have gone head to head, so to speak, but this time I managed to land on the fiberglass seat with my ribcage leading the way.  Owwweeee…..Although it didn’t seem too bad at first, over the next couple of days, (in combination with some other awkward dinghy maneuvers by yours truly) the thing went into spasms and quite literally laid me out.  That was about the time we decided there should be no more diving for a while.  Sometimes I hate being me.

So, here we sit….On the rim of “diver’s paradise” reading our books and waiting for the weather gods to stop their hissy-fit.  Snorkeling is not even really appealing, as the anchorage is a virtual river, what with all the outflow from the swell being poured into the lagoon.  Of the 3 cruising boats here, we’re the only ones who even have their dinghy in the water (because we’re masochists??)……Everyone is hunkered down for the blow.  And in the meantime, the clock is ticking on the French Polynesian, no mercy, no exceptions time clock.  Ninety days…..That’s it.  Today is day #59 and counting.  Well, I suppose the good news is that if we really like the Societies, we can always fly in from somewhere else to visit them.  Right…..

So, I guess it’s time to shake off the funk. Like the weather, this too shall pass eventually.  John, being the good person he is, is not even complaining that since his dive buddy can’t dive, neither can he.  He’s preparing a wonderful birthday dinner for me tonight with all the usual fine accompaniments.  Night before last, we grilled fresh lobsters bought from the family on the atoll.  And the diving here in the Tuamotus has been spectacular!  The pass at South Fakarava was just amazing, with quite literally hundreds of sharks and colorful reef fish.  And hell, we are still in French Polynesia on our own Mystic Moon, and we are still growing old together after all these many birthdays and anniversaries.  And that’s what it’s really about, isn’t it?

Whining aside, life and even marriage are not necessarily just about longevity, but about the journey along the way, and sharing it with each other…All of it.  And honestly, it seems to me that we’re doing that in style…..

Now, if I could just work on the grace and beauty and thing…….