Balance
"What's a work-life balance, and should we buy one for the lab?"
- online meme
I walked out of my office at 4 pm, and it felt weird.
I've been going full-steam-ahead for the last several months, pulling 10-hour days, coming in on weekends, and doing whatever necessary to complete my self-assigned work. It was time for a break. So on the first sunny afternoon in weeks, I loaded my dive gear into the car and headed out to Hathaway Pond.
I hadn't been in the water in months. After diving for 21 days straight in the tropics last December with Carl, I stayed on land for the New England winter. I had one dive in March this year, and that was it. It was high time to get back in the water.
It was an amazing dive. Hathaway Pond is not the most exciting dive site by any measure - it's just a little freshwater pond - but whatever aquatic life the pond had to offer came out for me in full force yesterday. As I entered the pond from the beach, a large fish swam around my legs. I knelt on the sand with my face just under the surface, and he faced me head-on. My freshwater fish taxonomic skills are a decade old and rusty, but maybe he was a crappie? Either way, I appreciated the welcome to the pond.
Most of the limnetic zone was covered in long, fluffy macroalgae, like green feathers covering the pond floor. As I went deeper, the algae disappeared, but I noticed something even more interesting: a green encrusting species that covered rocks, cinder blocks, and logs. It looked like a sponge, so I drew closer for a better look (freshwater sponges are pretty rare). I looked it up, and what I saw looks exactly like Spongilla lacustris, which is indeed a freshwater sponge! The sponge has a bright lime-green color from symbiotic algae living within it, and it's been documented in a few places in Massachusetts. As I emerged from the depths, I started noticing the sponge growing on algal fronds as well - it was actually pretty common in the pond. Very cool!
It was evening, so by the time I reached the surface again, the sun was at an angle. Instead of white light, the sun shone yellow through the turbid water column. There was one moment when I rolled onto my left side, facing the sunlight, and caught a magnificent view of small fish (maybe salmonid parr, based on their vertical stripes) back-lit by the angled yellow sun. It was the most fish I've ever seen in the pond, and it was a beautiful, serene moment.
By the time I got back to my car, I was cold but invigorated. Diving is my absolute favorite thing, and I was glad to get back in the water. Here's to a long and productive diving season ahead!
- online meme
I walked out of my office at 4 pm, and it felt weird.
 |
| Wet and happy after my dive in Hathaway Pond |
I hadn't been in the water in months. After diving for 21 days straight in the tropics last December with Carl, I stayed on land for the New England winter. I had one dive in March this year, and that was it. It was high time to get back in the water.
It was an amazing dive. Hathaway Pond is not the most exciting dive site by any measure - it's just a little freshwater pond - but whatever aquatic life the pond had to offer came out for me in full force yesterday. As I entered the pond from the beach, a large fish swam around my legs. I knelt on the sand with my face just under the surface, and he faced me head-on. My freshwater fish taxonomic skills are a decade old and rusty, but maybe he was a crappie? Either way, I appreciated the welcome to the pond.
Most of the limnetic zone was covered in long, fluffy macroalgae, like green feathers covering the pond floor. As I went deeper, the algae disappeared, but I noticed something even more interesting: a green encrusting species that covered rocks, cinder blocks, and logs. It looked like a sponge, so I drew closer for a better look (freshwater sponges are pretty rare). I looked it up, and what I saw looks exactly like Spongilla lacustris, which is indeed a freshwater sponge! The sponge has a bright lime-green color from symbiotic algae living within it, and it's been documented in a few places in Massachusetts. As I emerged from the depths, I started noticing the sponge growing on algal fronds as well - it was actually pretty common in the pond. Very cool!
It was evening, so by the time I reached the surface again, the sun was at an angle. Instead of white light, the sun shone yellow through the turbid water column. There was one moment when I rolled onto my left side, facing the sunlight, and caught a magnificent view of small fish (maybe salmonid parr, based on their vertical stripes) back-lit by the angled yellow sun. It was the most fish I've ever seen in the pond, and it was a beautiful, serene moment.
By the time I got back to my car, I was cold but invigorated. Diving is my absolute favorite thing, and I was glad to get back in the water. Here's to a long and productive diving season ahead!
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