Back in Surf City, after a quick weekend back in Greenville.

Relatively calm weather here this morning, after a terrifically violent night. It felt like a hurricane, with very strong winds, pounding rains, and a very loud-roaring ocean. [Frankie didn’t care for it, at all.]

It was clearly much worse about 40 miles south of us, where an EF-3 tornado touched down, killing 3, injuring 10, leaving many homeless. Just horrible, and evidently the tornado–a very odd occurance for this time of year–“came up in a heartbeat,” giving no one a chance to get any warning at all.

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The weekend trip to G’ville was largely driven by my desire to take a scuba class. Saturday afternoon was spent learning about and getting a first taste of a full face mask–as opposed to the typical mask (like what’s used when snorkeling) and regulator (the thing used for breathing. Not so sure the FFM will become a regular thing for me, at all. But I want to become aware/ somewhat comfortable so that if I dive very cold waters at some point, i’ll be comfortable with a FFM which would keep my face from getting very cold.

And, frankly, it was just good to get in the water again. Haven’t dived since July, and was a bit amazed at the rustiness. Like anything else, scuba demands practice and repetition; and I can’t wait until we’re able to get back in some regular diving. Pattie particularly likes the warm water, so we’re still crossing our fingers to get into the Caribbean waters in Bonaire…at some point.

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Teaching continues apace. More at home with the technologies at hand, and finding this semester much closer to ‘normal’ than last. No surprise. Still, though, missing that all-important live interaction with practicing musicians!