kissing the pig...............................from P

Crystal clear 80 degree water, 40 to 50 feet of visibility, and interesting stuff to look at. What a great day for our final certification dives! Big Bill, our dive instructor and owner of Grimsley Scuba Services, spent most of the day with just K and I. We logged almost 1.5 hours of bottom time over 3 repetitive dives. I had heard about "the quarry" - and it lived up to its reputation as a great dive location. The first thing we saw was an underwater sign commemorating this location as the spot where the first scene in "The Replacements" was shot. I do not remember the scene (why were they underwater at the beginning of a football movie?) but apparently Keanu Reeves and Gene Hackman were filmed here doing something underwater for 30 seconds or so. Big Bill relates a great story of meeting Keanu and asking about the dive mask mark on his lip. Turns out Keanu was trying to grow a mustache. Next day, the mark was gone. Big Bill - changing the course of hollywood history. Ironically, the first structure we encountered was a sunken sailboat! I think God is still trying to impress upon me to be careful on this trip. We continued deeper to a schoolbus sitting on the bottom. It appeared to be ready to drive out of the lake; still blue and yellow with inflated tires! I was glad to note no lingering riders. This was our "depth" for the dive, 31 feet. I realized the sound of the bubbles changed at around 30 feet. No more big bubbly boiling noise. Now it was more of a distant, lower sound with smaller bubbles who did not seem to be in as much of a hurry. I also noted a temperature drop down to 69 or 70 degrees and everything turned a darker shade of blue. Of course the thermoclines and light absorption were all well explained in our classes, but study and experience are always two different things.

On our final dive Big Bill pointed us in a different direction to a clear area at about 22 feet depth where, lo and behold, stood a concrete pig coated with the requisite scum and silt. Big Bill deftly maneuvered down and around the pig, popped the regulator out of his mouth, and planted a big smooch on the pig's lips. This was the first time I had to deal with laughing with a second stage regulator in my mouth. He motioned me over, pointed to the pig, and I knew what I had to do. Yes, getting certified requires great sacrifice. After I got my kiss, K was motioned over. She didn't refuse but added a new paragraph to the story of the pig by wiping her mouth with her rubber sleeve after a quick peck - this time I saw Big Bill trying to manage his regulator through a guffaw. Back in the classroom we were presented with our temporary certification card. When we got home my daughter asked if we were certified. I said yes, but much more importantly we kissed the pig!