Surface Currents

Stacy Peltier, Nippostrongylus brasiliensis

Thread on canvas

Chatchawan Nilsakul, T-Beyond the Truth Acrylic on canvas 2013

I had no idea that water was so scary. I mean, I knew. The water is scary! But I never acknowledged what primal fear the average person experiences when they jump into a body of dihydrogen monoxide. The signs were all there: my brother “kind of hates” the ocean, my boyfriend relates it directly with Cthulhu, and I (myself!) freak out when swimming in murky lakes. But it still took my first day of on-the-job dive instructor training to understand the level of terror that water instills.

Today I watched a valiant little boy panic in scuba gear at the deep end of a heated swimming pool. I encouraged an All-State high school swimmer to get out of the water when she couldn’t handle the drysuit training skills. And before I left work, I stayed late trying to help a woman my age feel comfortable kicking at the surface with a pair of fins on.