i'm always a frazzled mess the days prior to leaving, this instance was no exception. in spite of my skatterbrained self, i made it out the door thursday morning at the uncivilized hour of 4:30am. (oh, and i do apologize to anyone that had the misfortune of crossing my crabby ass path that morning! poor Joe took on the job of braving my foul attitude and getting the coffee IV started for me .. he most likely saved someone from bloodshed. thanks, babe!) once we finally landed in orlando the blur began!
this is the second year for Hughie and i to take part in the adventure better known as MACNA. friends, new and old, fishes, corals, gear and more information than humanly possible to cram into one weekend .. that's what fishgeek paradise is made of! well, that and the after parties after the after parties .. can't forget those. ORCA made one helluva host, outstanding job!
MACNA in review is simple .. one word captures the entire weekend; phenomenal! the Orlando Reef Caretakers Association pulled off a smooth, well orchestrated conference at a gorgeous venue, packed full of the latest and greatest vendor exhibits and products, a fully stocked agenda of presentations by the industry's best, 3 full days of top notch raffle swag, more freebies than most of us could squeeze into our luggage, meals fit for royalty .. and most importantly .. over a 1000 of the coolest people in the nation that share in our obsession. REEFERS UNITE!selfishly, i must confess the raffle as being the highlight of the weekend for me. i was sitting in the back by myself as my dad had just stepped out (not realizing the grand prizes would be drawn next.) i swear the gentleman calling the raffle somehow slowed time down to barely a crawl as he announced the winning ticket number for the PNG trip. i'll never forget .. 0 .. (a few random groans rise up from the crowd) .. 7 .. (and then a few more) .. 6 .. (dead silence) .......2. time came to a grinding hault as i stared blankly at my ticket stub. OH MY GOD! THAT'S ME!! (insert ear splitting scream here!) the next few moments remain a blur .. the only thing i'm positive of is that i was reduced to a babbling fool amidst the circle of people that had started forming around me, hugs and tears were plentiful! i had asked friends a few rows up to please go find my dad, he came rushing in just as David handed me the guide book on speaking Pidgin. i overheard him tell someone, "this is the first time i've cried in 60 years!" and i thought my heart might explode then and there. last year was our first MACNA as well as where we first learned of the SEASMART program. we've talked about PNG ever since and what awesome work is being doing there, that booth was our first stop at the conference. (once again i must extend an apology, this time to anyone we may have trampled over in our mad rush to get to the SEASMART booth when the doors opened friday!) we've jokingly argued about who was going to win since the day we heard there were trips being raffled off. (which, by the way, may very well be the first time i've ever won an argument against that man!)
i haven't a clue how to summarize what this means to me. if there are words out there that embody the level of thrill i feel i don't know what they are. the SEASMART program is doing amazing things for not only the aquarium industry, but most importantly for PNG as a whole. and now the chance to actually experience it firsthand is a reality!! seriously?!! i still can't wrap my head around it!from that very special moment on, the outpouring of enthusiasm and support has been unbelievable! i am so grateful for each and every person that has extended a congratulation, offered their time to answer my questions, spent a moment to listen to me tell my story over and over and over again. THANK YOU AGAIN!!
PHEW!! what a weekend! it's going to take me a month or more to process everything! be sure to take a moment to check out the gallery page and enjoy a little eye candy.
