Another Lesson From Nature

"Life is not about waiting for the storms to pass....it's about learning how to dance in the rain." Unknown

I received the following story from a friend recently. Maybe some of you have seen this already. However, I find that it is so wonderful and so inspiring and so relavent to our journey that I had to share it with you all.

A female humpback whale had become entangled in a spider web of crab traps and lines. She was weighted down by hundreds of pounds of traps that caused her to struggle to stay afloat. She also had hundreds of yards of line rope wrapped around her body, her tail, her torso, a line tugging in her mouth. A fisherman spotted her just east of the Faralon Islands (outside the Golden Gate ) and radioed for help. Within a few hours, the rescue team arrived and determined that she was so bad off, the only way to save her was to dive in and untangle her -- a very dangerous proposition. One slap of the tail could kill a rescuer. They worked for hours with curved knives and eventually freed her. When she was free, the divers say she swam in what seemed like joyous circles. She then came back to each and every diver, one at a time, nudged them, and pushed gently, thanking them. Some said it was the most incredibly beautiful experience of their lives. The guy who cut the rope out of her mouth says her eye was following him the whole time, and he will never be the same.

May you, and all those you love, be so fortunate...To be surrounded by people who will help you get untangled from the things that are binding you. And, may you always know the joy of giving and receiving gratitude.

Picture Credit: This is the unbelievable moment a diver came face to face with a 50 ft female humpback whale, as she swam in the South Pacific. Cameraman Marco Queral, who has dedicated the last 17 years of his life to ocean photography, looked awe inspiringly small, as he dived along side one of great giants of our seas. (This picture is not from the story but found separately on the Internet to show the size difference between a humpback whale and a human.)