This morning I thought I would step out of my routine. I generally waken early and do my things: a yoga class or writing with a coffee. But today, I decided to ride my bike to a nearby cenote. It felt good to break up my routine as I headed up the beach road on my rusty pink bike. It wasn’t that early, just about 8. But the culture here isn’t an early one. I had the road to myself and they were just opening the gate at the cenote as I arrived. The gentleman opening was sleepy eyed but greeted me pleasantly. He would make money for tortillas before it hit 9 am. I paid him, having wrapped two bright 10 pesos coins in my towel. It used to be free and I missed that more than a little.
But I shook off the nostalgia and walked my bicycle through the campground to the water’s edge. I was sweating already and knew the water would feel good. The crispish morning air, at a “crisp” 80 or so degrees, was refreshing. The water would be more so. August had been a hot month, but the days had been getting cooler. Mornings were probably the most comfortable time of the day for me.
I put my toe in the water and looked up to see two ducks flying overhead. “I think that is a good sign”, I said as I let my foot sink a little deeper into the clear cool water. I wondered for just a moment about crocodiles. I knew they slept in the heat of the day but I wondered what their custom was for the morning. “They are probably sleeping off their nocturnal feasting”, I told myself as I piled my clothes on the dock that extended into the water and then just dove right in.
It was heaven surrounding my body: cool, clear heaven. The water and the gentle coolness of it embraced me. I came to the surface to look around. It was only me and the manglers gently reaching their arms under the water. There were a few orchids still in bloom, the flowers gently rising above the manglers, but mostly it was green and the blue of the sky above. I swam further and started to play. I practiced water ballet. I did summersaults and the back-stroke and turns and just about anything I wanted to. No one would witness my madness. I did 4 dolphins back to back. Those are the moves where you are on your back in the water and you arch your back and pull yourself around under the water in a circle. Then you resurface and if you want, you can go back under and make a circle again. I love them but after 4, I was lightheaded and a little dizzy. So I just floated. My ears under the water, the sun on my face, the only sound I heard was my own heart beat. I was in heaven. I was in Tulum.