The Ocean Dad and Me

When I was about 5 or 6 Dad was stationed in Hawaii and we spent a lot of time at the beach.
I can still remember how the warm moist air cradled your skin and blurred the boundaries between you and the world. And I remember my father more than a man - a figure of power and wisdom that a child could place limitless trust in.
He would set me up on his shoulders for a piggy back ride... no unusual feat. But then we would start a slow and deliberate walk out into the glassy smooth ocean and eventually the water would get deeper and deeper and his body would slowly submerge and disappear until eventually we would be far out to sea and his head would go under water then the water would rise up my small body until it came up to my nose - all the while I was marveling at how Dad could hold his breath for so long and how I was so far out in the deep water - yet I had only just enough fear to make it exhilarating.
Then according to a silent accord I would gently tap his shoulder and he would slowly turn and stride out the water - slowly emerging from the depths and letting out a blast of compressed air like a mighty whale when his lips reached the surface.
I remember this play and communion and always will.
thanks daddy
robbie john