Surfing

I have been waiting to write this entry all season, and FINALLY the day has come. Prepare yourselves for some serious illustrative writing.

I'm not sure anything makes me happier than walking over the Dolphin Street access in the AM, following the sound of the crashing waves, and seeing 5 of my fellow COR friends catching a perfect early morning surf sesh. Waves are glassy, the sun is rising, ahh epic. Wait. Scratch that. How about running over the access at 5:45 PM, work uniform still on, wetsuit in hand, and seeing all 30 of your best friends out in the water, waves still clean, getting perfect little long board rides. Yep, I think that's what makes me happiest.

It must have looked ridiculous today out at Dolphin Street at sunset- imagine 30 lifeguards within a 100 yard radius of one another, 4 people to a wave, when we have the ENTIRE beach to surf. But if we spread out, we wouldn't be able to hoot and holler when we catch a sick wave, we can't get angry at each other for dropping in on us (Patrick), and we can't see Sean doing ridiculous 360's over the head of Mike A. I cannot begin to describe what it feels like to paddle into a nice chest high little bump, drag your hand down the wall of water after you drop in, duck your head to try to get barreled, and have all of your friends cheering you on the entire time. It's not a competition, there are never hard feelings, it's just insanely fun with good vibes all around. Some of us have lived in Hawaii and surfed famous breaks, some of us have been out in California surfing the Pacific, and some of us are just beginning to learn; but what is certainly similar about all of us is that when there are waves, we will be riding them.

When I was in Australia, I wrote a paper on how surfing could be considered a religion. I began the paper with this quote:

"Surfing fits into all categories. It’s an art by the way you express yourself in a wave. It’s a sport because you compete with it, and it’s spiritual because it’s just you and Mother Nature.”

Tonight, Mother Nature was at her finest. The water was so glassy there was barely a ripple. There were storm clouds approaching from the North, but above us, the sun was shining. The sun set behind the storm clouds, and at times the suns rays would find breaks in the cloud cover and illuminate us out in the water. The sky faded from blue, to pink, to orange, to deep red, and we stayed out surfing until the final rays of light sank behind the clouds. Wow. What an incredible, unforgettable day.