These times are nothing if not interesting! Where do I start?
Two weeks ago I did my first DPV (Diver Propulsion Vehicle) scuba dive. I was really excited! I waited over a year for this dive.
DPVs are basically underwater scooters. Divers use them to zip around underwater, kinda like flying, or as one diver put it, "It's like riding a motorcycle underwater." With a DPV a diver can reach dive sites that are too far away for normal swimming. Because the DPV is doing the work, divers don't use as much air - they're nervous like I was. (For all that, I only used a little more air than the instructor.)
We went out into Aguadilla Bay where there are a surprising number of boat wrecks. Hurricane Maria and the "big wave event" the following March moved a lot of sand and uncovered stuff that's been covered for years. Some of the sand has started to fill back in and cover stuff again but it was still very cool!
When I got out of the water, I sent Elaine a text telling her I was out and safe and headed home, just like I do after every dive. She sent me back a message, "Call as soon as you can."
Two of our horses escaped in the night and were no where to be found. She spent the several hours I was gone looking for them. I started looking for them even before I got home. Nothing. No sightings. We made flyers and posted them all up and down the road. By nightfall they still weren't back. About 8:00 PM, just about 24 hours since they were last seen, Elaine heard what wounded like a car crash up on the main road. She went to see what happened and if anyone needed help. She called me. "It's Cas (one of our missing horses). He's dead." He was walking in the road, on his way home we think, and was hit by a car. The only two good things were the driver was not injured and Cas was killed instantly. He was not lying in the road in pain waiting for a vet to come put him down. Meanwhile, through a crazy. nearly miraculous chain of events, Elaine found Yunque, the other missing horse. We were able to get him safely through the chaos of police cars, flashing lights, tow trucks and rain and back home.
The next week was spent in shock and grief, building and rebuilding fences. Yunque escaped once to look for his missing buddy but fortunately didn't go far and we got him back in quickly.
Cas was our adventurer. For him the grass was always better just on the other side of the fence. He could and would go through, around, or over most fences. We found out after the fact that one of the neighbors on the main road actually saw him jump the perimeter fence! Run free, Casanova. I hope there are no fences and nothing but lush green grass where you are. We miss you.
As I write this, Puerto Rico is under lockdown because of the coronavirus. There is a mandatory 9:00 PM - 5:00 AM curfew. Only essential and emergency traffic is allowed. All non-essential business are closed until March 30. Restaurants can open but only for carry-out, no table seating. Even essential businesses - gas stations, pharmacies, grocery stores - have to close at 6:00 PM. Schools of course are closed. Swimming beaches are closed. Everyone is supposed to stay in their homes unless they have to go our.
It is so eerily quiet. No traffic sounds, no music blaring from cars roaring down the road. The silence is even more profound than after the hurricane when we had no electricity. The post-hurricane sound track was the constant drone of generators. We have electricity so there is not even the generator noise. Anything that disturbs the silence - our neighbor cutting his grass for example - is jarring and feels out of place.
I hope our island gets a chance to recover soon. First the hurricane then earthquakes now this pandemic. It's tough going.
Y'all be safe and stay healthy!
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