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Huge Orbit / Bouncing Back / Are You My Landlord?
They say we know more about outer space than we do about the deep depths of the oceans. Perhaps, but we didn’t know about C/2022 E3, the comet that is going to pass relatively close to earth as it whips around the sun over the next couple of weeks, until 10 months ago. Perhaps a caveman made a drawing on a wall way back, but that file has crashed. A 50,000 year orbit seems crazy, how can our sun have that much magnetic force to pull that ice and dust ball back to it? Some long range comets can orbit up to 250,000 years! Astronomers believe this comet could escape that gravitational pull and become a runaway. We have a vague idea of what the earth was like 50,000 years ago. I’m trying to envision what the earth is going to be like 50,000 years from now… It blows my mind! If you had to come back to the earth in one of those time frames, would you go backwards in time 50k years or forwards? Don’t ponder that too long. Are you old enough to remember Haleys comet putting on a display for us back in the mid 80s? That event had much fanfare, and I remember watching it from Paynes Prairie, a little south of Gainesville during my U of F years. The waxing moon will hamper the viewing of this comet, but if you get away from city lights and have decent binoculars, you should get a nice view. Cool stuff!
It seems to me that we (at least as Americans, if not humans) tend to dwell in the news of the moment. From the end of September for a couple months that news was all about hurricane Ian and it’s destruction. After raging forest fires, a deadly freeze and prolific flooding, Ian’s impact seems all but forgotten (for some more than others). Thank goodness we are a resilient species. That resiliency will likely continue to be tested more and more as this evolution continues. I’m not sure evolution is the right word there, but we will go with it for now! Most businesses and residences in the Marco Island – Naples area have bounced back nicely. The gulf is slowly bouncing back. A couple of cold fronts bringing northerly wind and cooler water have helped that cause. The FWC red tide report is still widespread but less intense in concentrations as of late. Visibility has been poor to below average so I haven’t received many reports from divers this winter and the Psychquatic has only run a few trips. Scuba Marco is also bouncing back. The Christmas and New Year’s holidays are the busiest two weeks of the year for us. Our roster of potential divers and students this season was at about 50% of what it is normally. Although we are in the midst of our slow season, the number of potential clients currently in our planner is bouncing back to normal levels. That gives me cause for optimism moving forward!
My mom probably read me most, if not all of the Dr. Seuss' books when I was a toddler growing up in Ohio. One of my favorites was, ‘Are You My Mother?’ Mothers and landlords are thankfully much different but that was my angle in the title and it is still Scuba Marco‘s reality. Much of the information I have about my landlord's situation is secondhand news, or in other words on Marco Island; false information. I’ve heard that the city will not issue permits to rebuild the Snook as it was before Ian. Supposedly they want it raised up 10 feet and/or back also. That seems cost prohibitive to me which is why NOTHING has gone on there since early October. I do have a couple pieces of factual information: 1) I’m not able to use their docks for pick ups and drop offs. 2) They are still collecting the rent check at the beginning of the month. Thankfully, Paula, who manages the small Sunrise Bay resort behind the shop has allowed us to use their dock. I really like dealing with kind, caring people… So much nicer than the alternative. Scuba Marco‘s location has been in flux for so long now that it doesn’t even phase me. Our 25th year anniversary is August 23, perhaps there will be a moving sale in conjunction with the anniversary celebration! Regardless of what happens, we will be fine. We are humans here at Scuba Marco, so we are resilient and stubborn and committed… To you, the wonderful people that have blessed us with a quarter century here, under the big tree planted perhaps by Thomas Edison where the Caloosa Indians hunted and played! I hope that you are close by and I am able to visit with you on Friday. As always…
Live Love Dive —Jeff
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Ray Gorsline
January 31, 2023
I always love Jeff’s insight, and especially relate to his reference of the book “Are you my mother?” My mother would read this one to us and we always got a kick when she would ‘snort’ loudly at the part where the bird met the diesel tractor. Thanks for the memories! Hope all is well with you both.