Peter Benchley & Beauty in the Deep

There's a lot to see and do in Hawaii, and much of it happens at the beach. If you're like my wife and I, that means that some of the best moments occur beneath the waves. We used to buy disposable cameras, but that meant getting film processed, which added to the total cost. After a few years, stores on the islands stopped developing film with less than a one-week turnaround. So we brought the cameras home, and had the film developed locally.

Eventually, the cost and bother got a little much, so we stopped buying these disposable cameras. This allowed us to spend more of our time looking around under water, as opposed to worrying about catching a fish just right. But it did mean that what we brought home from our snorkeling trips were only memories, which we couldn't show to friends.

This year, we opted to spend our Christmas in Hawaii. As a present to ourselves, we purchased an inexpensive digital camera. It was about 7-8 times more expensive than one of those old disposables, but we'll save on the cost and hassle with developing. On this trip, we probably took more than the equivalent of those 7-8 disposables. After the time not using a camera, it added a new dimension to our snorkeling.

One thing that's stuck with me from Peter Benchley's novel The Deep was that sharks were not necessarily voracious killers. (This aspect doesn't translate to the film version). At one point in the book, an inexperienced diver sees a shark approach, and immediately shoots it. Later, the dive leader berates the man, pointing out that he had been the attacker, not the shark. That shark would now swim off and die, because he had not bothered to assess the shark's level of interest in him before firing his harpoon gun.

If you've read The Deep, you know the villains of this story are distinctly human in nature.

I may have some of the particulars of that scene wrong, but it's my strongest memory from the novel. The film version of his first novel Jaws made everyone petrified of going to the beach, or into the water. In The Deep, Benchley seemed to be saying: okay, I told a story about one shark terrorizing a little town. That doesn't mean all sharks prey on swimmers. 

Still, I'm not planning on swimming with sharks anytime soon.

Whether we're talking sharks, fish, eels, or anything else you find underwater, the general rule of not touching anything remains the safest advice. Still, most of the sea life you find underwater are unlikely to attack you. The sea life we typically encounter belong to three groups: 1) They try to keep their distance from you; 2) They approach to study you; or 3) They flat out ignore you. 

Whatever category they belong to, this year I often wished they'd stay still for a moment. You know, so I could snag the perfect photo. And then there's the question of the lighting, which is always changing with the movement of the water.

By far the coolest fish I saw this year was this flatfish. As it had both eyes on top, my wife and I think it's a flounder. It had such an interesting movement, like a piece of parchment flowing through the dense water. When it saw me, it altered his direction away from me. Then it tried to hide from me.

Can you see it, blending in with the surface of the rock? It had such interesting body markings. Some fish have a dark mottled body, as if they're wearing a military camouflage suit. This one, when it blended in with the rock, was absolutely stunning.

But then, that's why we snorkel. To see everything that's going on in Hawaii. Even if much of it occurs beneath the waves.

Dragon Dave

Baroness Emma Orczy: Walking With A True Woman

In the early chapters of Baroness Emma Orczy's 1911 novel A True Woman, Louise Harris and her fiancé Luke de Mountford take a walk through Battersea Park in the Chelsea district of London, England. I can't remember if they actually walk across it, but Orczy mentions nearby Albert Bridge. And why not? It's beautiful! Just be careful if you walk across in a large group. You'll see signs posted reminding your party to break step every now and then. Otherwise, the bridge might collapse, and dump you into the river Thames!

As they stroll through Battersea Park, Luke mentions to Louise that a newfound relative is visiting London. Apparently one of his uncles had a son, and he's visiting London for the first time. The man doesn't seem to want anything more than to connect with his family. But Louise is aghast that Luke hasn't mentioned this man before. If his claims are true, the newcomer will replace Luke as the inheritor of the family fortune.

I can imagine Luke and Louise walking through the placid, tree-lined walkways of Battersea Park. Surrounded by such tranquility, Louise would have contemplated how the possibility that Luke might not inherit his surviving uncle's money would change their future plans. Up until now, Luke has devoted his life to being his uncle's right-hand man, managing all the family's investments and finances. He has no inheritance of his own, no income to fall back on. In this age of gentility, Luke would fall far below Louise's position in society. From society's standpoint, he would have nothing to offer her.

Sadly for Luke and Louise, this is exactly what happens.

Despite scientists' declarations that the fog that used to choke London's streets in a thing of the past, fog as thick as pea soup flows into London a few months later. It swarms around famous landmarks like Picadilly Square, and dampens the enthusiasm of crowds waiting to see the latest plays in the theatre district. Luke, now dispossessed, drives Louise and her father to an embassy party in her father's car. As he's no longer invited to such high society functions, he boards a city bus. After watching from afar for far too long, he has decided to confront his usurper in the man's club. He may no longer control the family finances, but he must convince the man to send their ailing uncle off to Spain for his health.

A few hours later, the usurper is found stabbed through the throat in a horse drawn cab. The cab driver cannot attest to the identity of the person who boarded the cab with the usurper, so thick with the fog. The next morning, Luke's walking stick is found in nearby Green Park. Secreted inside the walking stick is a stiletto knife. The blade has blood on it.

My wife and I walked past Green Park after visiting the Prime Minister's residence back in 2011. I remember a nice flat green expanse of lawn. But it was the evening, and we were hungry, so we didn't have time to explore it. If we had, I suppose we might have found someone's walking stick, and become an integral part of a murder investigation!

Luke is put on trial for his cousin's murder. Despite months of public pressure, Louise has refused to break her engagement to Luke because he lost his fortune. As she loves him, and believes in him, she attends the inquest. During a break in proceedings, they join with the fashionable set by walking the Ladies Mile in Hyde Park.

My wife and I explored Hyde Park in 2013. We saw the Rotten Row, where people rode their horses. E. F. Benson mentions the Rotten Row in several of his novels, such as Dodo, A Detail of a Day and Scarlet And Hyssop. While the Rotten Row stretches across the south area of Hyde Park, the Ladies Mile ran along the North. We had a great time exploring this historic park, along with our fellow walkers, cyclists, and horseback riders.

Thankfully, I wasn't suspected of murder at the time. This made it easier for my wife and I, as we didn't have to ignore everyone around us gossiping about the mountain of evidence against me. But then, my wife is a true woman. Had I been under suspicion, my wife would have stuck by me, just like Louise did with her beloved Luke.

Dragon Dave