Another Week Down

Mark another one off the calendar...this week is done!  I find myself settling into something that might soon resemble that of a routine.  This is a good thing.  On top of that, I'm growing more comfortable with the instructors, as well as becoming more accustomed to their commanding personalities.  A few of the most recent interactions with them might be called an actual conversation.  Again, this is a good thing.  Although, their seemingly innocent and kind correspondence with me must not be construed as an invitation for friendship.  This would be a mistake on my part.  They will not and cannot be my friends.  They have a job to do, and that involves breaking me down "lower than snake-shit," as my Dad coined it. Although sore, my body is slowly adapting to the brisk pace, to say the least, my instructors have so adequately set.  It feels good to have your body taxed to a degree that makes a simple task like tying your shoes a chore.  The week was relatively uneventful due to a search and rescue mission that required the involvement of nearly all of our rescue swimmers.  Aside from a rigorous, hour-long beating at the hands of Petty Officer Arnold for not folding up our sweats and placing them in the corner at the gym, my body was provided an adequate amount of time to recover.  Tuesday's pool day consisted of a 500m swim (shirt & shorts), 150m buddy-tow, and a 500m gear swim.  It was a perfect opportunity for me to get more practice swimming with the gear and focus without the added yelling.  Much to my astonishment, Thursday's pool day was promptly cancelled due to a busted pipe.  Needless to say, after Wednesday's beating, I was pleased to not have to push it in the pool.  On Friday, we waxed one of the helicopters, and that was it.  Easy, mindless work...I enjoyed it very much.  The highlight of this weekend was on Saturday.  I took Zoey out for a walk.  We drove until Sawmill Road dead-ended.  We passed through the gate and continued on the unkept road frequently hiking down to the water to take some pictures and check out the areas exposed due to the low-tide.  Zoey, who is incredibly hyper, loved it.  She had plenty of room to run and play in the water.  As we were walking down the road, I looked down toward the water where I saw something splash.  We walked down to the water for a better look and, much to my amazement, there wading in the water were a group of 5 sea lions!  I could only see from their eyes up.  It was the coolest thing, though.  5 big heads staring at me.  Then, all at once, they thrashed back and down under the water!  All at the exact same time...crazy.  Sadly, they were too far away, and blended in too well for me to get a picture.  Amazing.  After that, Zoey and I made our way back to the truck and headed back into Sitka.