Manatees of Crystal River 1/05

It was two days after Christmas. I awoke in the spare bedroom at my mom’s house in the mountainous end of South Carolina and snuck a christmas cookie from the tin on the dresser. While packing my bags to go home I glanced out of the window at the sub-freezing morning and wished that home wasn’t northward. I lugged my bags out to the car and as I scraped the ice from my windows, a strange thought flitted through my head. Less than a thought. A word really.

Mermaids.

This seemed somewhat inappropriate on a frosty winter morning until I realized what I was staring at through the hole in the ice. A mesh bag inside my car containing a mask, flippers and snorkel, Christmas presents to myself, along with an underwater housing for my camera. I wanted to become an underwater photographer. I’ve always been one to follow my dreams and my dream was to swim with the mermaids, or rather the real-life inspiration for that myth. The magical creature known as the manatee.

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