Caymans, December 30, 2002
Skinny-Dipping into Christmas
christmas eve is always partytime for me
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It's way past my bedtime on Christmas Eve, and I'm swimming in a warm tropical lagoon, naked. How did this happen? Me skinny dipping off a rocky Grand Cayman beach that is. I can just remember how this evening started, with Claire and I heading to the DiveTech Christmas party and Island Lights tour, but the rest of the night isn't so clear. I know, at one point, three of us were left at one of the houses that was so covered in lights that even the coconuts were outlined, while we were inside talking to the twin sisters who decorated the place. Not knowing how to find our way back to the West End party place, we hitchhiked back to George Town, the main local on the island, and wandered around until we found an open bar. There, we started drinking with the bartender, until we were finally found by two of the DiveTech crew. They joined us drinking, and several hours, two feasts of jerk pork & chicken, and way too many beers later, I found myself on this beach. I was clothed then, as were the two others who were left behind a few hours before. As the founding member of the Peace Corps Russia Skinny Dip Club, I continued the tradition and led us into founding the Grand Cayman Friends of DiveTech Skinny Dip Club. So here I am, swimming through waters glowing with phytoplankton, illuminating my every movement with a pale green light, very early on Christmas Day, wishing for only one improvement on the evening, finishing it with a night dive to see what beauty was floating beneath me. Soon, I will crawl out of the water, air dry while standing on razor sharp coral, and pass out on a park bench, only waking when the DiveTech van rolls up outside Claire's house, for me to stumble in and wish her, and you, a Merry Christmas!
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