Some Days are Made of Magic!

(Doug's email from the magical day that was Jan 6, 2014)

Greetings from Mabul island - not far from Sipidan. Some days in the Woodward family are sheer magic. Incredibly, magical, wonderful, spectacular days. There was, of course our wedding day. The day I met Tracy. The day Tracy and I got engaged. Every one of Tracy's birthdays, and all of our anniversaries (especially #1 at Courtright Reservoir!). In fact, pretty much every day that I'm with Tracy is, of course, sheer magic.

So certainly the top 5293 days of my life are those that I've spent with Tracy (insert sappy sigh from Marta).

But undoubtedly, Day #5294 probably has to be Monday, January 6, 2014 - a day of sheer magic.

Of course, it all starts the day before, on Sunday. Eager to get a start on the day, Doug got up in the morning early - 6 am, in the hopes that perhaps the very pathetic internet connection from Mabul island might be JUST enough to catch the beginning of the Colts game before we left on a day trip of diving. The game had started at 5:30 am, Malaysia time, so I was very happy (at first) to discover a pixilated, but not jumpy internet connection to watch the Colts v. Chiefs - at least the first half. I managed to get just through halftime, and was quite discouraged, depressed, and saddened to see three Colts turnovers and the Colts down 38 - 10 - when 7:30 am rolled around, the internet started falling apart, and plus we had to get breakfast, get changed and catch our 8 am boat to a nearby island.

Sigh.

But then comes today, January. When we got back to the lodge, I tried catching a bit more of the game - but it wouldn't load at all. Of course, no spoilers. But Rendall did check the game and left the cryptic response along the lines of, "I think you should go ahead and finish watching the game." Not sure what to make of that, latched onto the 1 in 1000 hope of hopes that the game might just be worth finishing.

(SPOILER ALERT BELOW):

With our boat for Sipidan departing at 6 am, I figured I should try to avoid going another day of agony over the Colts. . . .and Rendall's cryptic message. So I got up at 5 am to see if I could finish the Colts game . . . .and MAGIC! WOW! WOW! WOW! said a headline from Indianapolis.

Andrew Luck's comeback of comebacks in and of itself made for a day to remember. I was jazzed and jumping up and down all alone in the wee hours of the morning from the reception area of the resort - the only place with internet.

In time for an amazing sunrise from our lodge (see picture), we then we took the short boat ride (25 min) to Sipidan - a tiny volcanic island that rises 600+ meters (2000 feet) from the ocean floor. It was exciting to finally make it to a major destination from our time in Malaysia! The upcurrents provide rich nutrients which create incredible coral, many fish and then attract all sorts of fish, sharks, turtles, and more. It was amazing how tiny the island was, how close it is (to Mabul, at least), but thanks to strict regulation and limited permits (120 visitors a day, I think), how challenging it is to get there.

So in four dives along Sipidan's famous wall, it was absolutely breathtaking. Massive schools of barracuda, insane numbers of jackfish. Dozens of giant sea turtles , dozens of reef sharks. We even culminated our day running across two octopus that were mating - changing colors and creating this incredible display of color and changing pigments in an instant.

Hopefully I can attach a couple of pictures. But it was an absolutely incredibly amazing and magical day. Wow! Wow! Wow!

PS: For the record, while Tasha and Rendall share my enthusiasm of Sipidan, their excitement about the Colts is a bit less.

PPS: For the record, thanks for no spoilers. Though I have seen game #1 of wild card weekend, I'm holding out hope I can still watch (sometime) the rest of the games without knowing the score - maybe even tomorrow, when we have a bit of a layover between our ferry (10:30 am) and our taxi to the airport for our flight - where there is better internet at the Scuba office in Semporna on Borneo.

PPPS: Tasha's fiery red hair is a sight to behold. . . underwater.