Same night. We had just come down from a hike at the Piro research station. While others chatted, the introverts among us took our time to converse with nature. Carlos stared into the sunset, the soft sea breeze rustling through his hair, his brown face golden in the last light of day. His girlfriend was expecting their first child, and I didn't interrupt his thoughts. I walked down the shore, past Billy standing there barefoot in his khakis letting the surf come in around and over him. Down a ways past the tussock of grass where the hippies strummed, through a grove of coconut palms I found a small lagoon cut off by high dunes from the pacific. I stood a moment, wondering about snakes, peeled off my clothes and jumped in.
