Way Back - An earlier writing

Going back - Way back!Imagine the day is just dawning, the sun has already started warming the earth and you know the day will be beautiful, sunny and warm.You find yourself standing in the cool sand at the edge of the Pacific ocean marveling at the awesome power of it all. Something tugs at your very soul when you look out to sea. Something primal and raw and powerful!With your fins in your hand you step into the sea, pushing your float tube ahead of you until you get deeper.Finally you bend to slip you feet into the fins, fall forward onto the tube and set a course for your site, the location you've picked to do your hunting.While kicking out to sea you bury your masked face in the water and watch schools of fish large and small, decked out in every color known to man and some you've never seen before. Life everywhere going about it's daily activity of survival mostly ambivalent to you.Once at the dive spot you start looking in earnest at the bottom, at rocks on the sides of rocks and underneath ledges until you spy the query. Abalone, stuck to the rocks underneath their army helmet shells covered with camouflage.You grab onto some kelp to anchor your position while digging in the float tube for your ab bar and ab gage.Now you start hyperventilating 2, 3, 4 big deep breaths. Exhale as much as you can and immediately inhale as much air as you can get into your lungs and dive!Bend over as though you're doing toe touches and once your body is inverted head toward the bottom, toward the rock, toward dinner!Go slow and easy, you don't want to expend any more energy than necessary to reach the bottom.Slide up on the Ab and ram the bar underneath between the creature and the rock. Now pry toward you fast and hard, break the suction and pull the giant mollusk off the rock!Grab it and head toward the surface. Do not give in to the spasms racking your lungs, do not give in to the need to breathe, do not give in to that overwhelming urge to open your mouth letting the spent air rush out of your aching lungs and replace it with the burning sea that would spell your end. Kick baby kick your way to the surface, kick your way to blue sky, sun, wind and oxygen.When you break the surface you look and feel like a missile coming out of the water! Take that first life giving breath and feel the pain and fear leave you like it always does.Grab the float tube and check the Ab once again to verify its of legal size. Now drop it in to the float tube and bury your face in the ocean again and start looking for another Ab.Three Abalone 7 inches or larger is your limit, you've done good. Now flop your tired rubber body onto that tube and head toward shore.You have one prize waiting on shore, in the ice chest your brought with you, yes that ice cold beer that always says - job well done!