I didn’t take any good pics of waves but yesterday was 7’ @ 10 seconds in full sun with light offshore wind- ideal conditions for an early winter surf session.
Was kinda crowded and I found myself sitting for too long so I switched to the body board and swam really hard for three hours, caught tons of waves then scraggled back on spaghetti-flimsy legs back to my truck. What a workout. Two hours surfing, two hours bodyboarding. Sore as hell now.
Nobody was there except me and four other guys. 9-10’ 8 seconds, offshore 30-40 mile hour winds, 55f. Waves were sectiony with occasional waves that went across the entire point unmolested by close outs. To be out there pretty much alone gave me a giant smile the whole time, most frustration to be found surfing, most fun bodyboarding. Paddle like hell for a wave to find high tide messing with the faces making the drop sometimes elusive. Want it a great workout? Strap on a pair of fins and bodyboard for a few hours. See what happens to your body. Neck, all muscles above my belly button feel like I got hit by a train. All muscles below my belt (except one) feel like I got tackled by an NFL linebacker. If if I did that every day or even twice a week my body would revert back into what I looked like in college. Great way to spend New Year’s Day! In the winter my nursery is pretty dormant. Not a lot of customers buying trees in the winter, so I take off a lot. Don’t get me wrong, there’s a lot to do to prepare for next year, and I try to do most of those things, but I do it whenever I feel like it, inbetween surf sessions, visits, trips, etc.
I put the nursery plants in storage, so it pretty much looks like an empty lot and some people inevitably start rumors “I hear you’re going out of business!” It looks that way just because we pack away the plants to protect them. Instead of having to explain winter protection to everyone who asks, I put these signs up. Settles all speculation about the health of my business. Surfing comes in handy! People throughout the past twenty years since I began putting surf signs up have asked me “are you the one who goes surfing? Where do you go, do you really go?” These silly signs intending to explain our dormant business are actually better and more attention grabbing than any other signs I’ve ever put out there. Its probably because surfing in my area refers to the internet. Fat lazy Americans (what I am when out of shape) wasting their time doodling, researching, shopping... doing everything except what Mother Nature intended for our bodies.... exert/play/exercise/stress and near death exposure to risk. So I always try to talk people into trying surfing, and to date I have been able to talk “ZERO” people into even trying. I don’t stop suggesting it to people but I don’t put a lot of energy into it anymore, not worth it. It would be like trying to get my son interested in keeping a life journal- total waste of time. I used to to belong to a really good masters swim team and not one of those people tried surfing either, oh well. I guess it’s a specialized sport. Better that way anyway. Less surfers=less crowd. Just thought it funny to find that the most popular page on my website has nothing to do with horticulture, and my most memorable signs by the road don’t have zip to do with the nursery. Surfing rocks! Can’t wait to go this week! Last Saturday I surfed for six hours. Three surfing, three body boarding. I’m still sore. My thighs, calfs, shoulders, neck. I know as we age it takes longer for our bodies to recover from exercise. In college, it’s measured in hours. Thirties in a couple’a days, past that it’s measured by how often one gets stressful workouts.
The more hard stuff you do in your life as well as how frequently you do it, the easier it is for your body. If you have a typical lethargic lifestyle, you will not be able to do in your later years what you used to be able to do when you were brand new! Get off off your fat ass (easier said than done) and work that bod. Im going to take my kid out west to ski in feb., and I want to be able to ski the whole time we are there. Gotta get in shape! Holy shit, I’m totally exhausted. I surfed for three hours then paddled in n switched boards for a leg workout on the body board for another three hours. Body boarders need to earn respect. If people disrespect you, they basically pretend that you aren’t there. As a result, when I’m body boarding, I always go for the biggest waves, the ones others shy away from. Once they see you sliding down huge waves, they usually don’t drop in on you, and back off if you shout at them as they are about to slide down the wave that you are already surfing on. Some assholes don’t respect the rules, and need an angry talking to, like the kid who got a scolding from me after half a dozen drop ins. He deserved it. Typical post-storm sunset beautifying my soul on the way home followed by a pure white full moon in a clear black night. Winter solstice was yesterday so the days are going to get brighter and longer morning and afternoon from now till June 21. I had this song stuck in my head the entire surf session. Good tune!
Web app not working right- these pics belong in my fall blog for last entry.
No pictures for this post, unfortunately... and, it has nothing whatsoever to do with surfing, horticulture, landscaping at all. More to do with the spirituality of coping with less than ideal life conditions, helpful for everyone at times hopefully. I was talking with a friend the other day about the crappy weather and he said "effin LIQUID SUNSHINE!" He did not use my more polite F-word alternative, he was full bore mad. I asked him what 'Liquid Sunshine' was, never heard that phrase before. He proceeded to tell me where he was exposed to the brighter philosophical side of shitty rainy weather. JAMAICA. He had paid an "Arm and a Leg" (pun intended) for the pleasure of golfing at an awesome golf course while on vacation and it started to rain like hell. He animatedly told me what he started swearing at the clouds, the words that he had used and the level of emotions behind his swearing. The caddy who was schlepping two bags around without a cart was Jamaican with a thick island accent and had lost one of his arms somehow. My friend never got around to finding out how, thinking it's impolite to ask. Anyway, the dude overcame his handicap and still managed to schlepp for the tourists with an amicable attitude and friendly smile. When this one-armed caddy saw my friend (let's call him Dave (his name really is Dave)) going ballistic with veins in his neck about to pop swearing at the clouds for what was an everyday Jamaican weather event, he said "Ya, Maaan, What Yuu soo maaad abouuut?" "I paid an arm and a leg to golf at this #*!^ing GD beautiful place and it's F***ing raining like a *#^@%!!!" That's what I'm so mad about! The caddy calmly and cooly said to "Dave" "Yo Maaan, That's not Rain, that's Liquid Sunshine! It visits every day here, maan, good for you, good luck for those it falls on!" That phrase stuck with Dave, and now when rain conjures up swearing emotions, he remembers the unnamed one armed cool golf caddy from Jamaica and calms down to some degree. That caddy also noticed Dave's young friend getting mad at not being able to golf well so he took the club and told the young guy without really looking much at the ball how to stand, swing, follow through. He hit the ball while talking to the guy and as soon as he hit it he looked at the dude and kept talking as the ball rolled onto the green. That memory stuck with Dave, and the cool attitude that the caddy had was an impressive feat for one who has a reason to be walking through life with a grudge but doesn’t, to teach people who have everything going for themselves yet had big grudges for pretty minor life conditions. It's interesting what we can learn from those who we would never think have anything to offer us other than carrying our shit for us. I have always felt that the quality of a man is determined not by his accomplishments in life but by the way he handles life when shitty things happen. The highest quality men rise to the occasion with an even temper whilst the poorest quality men slump into poor behavior. I find it a constant challenge for myself and usually fail the sniff test. Collie Buddz sings a song that could have been written by the caddy. A song about keeping one’s chin up during hard times, easier said than done sometimes, especially when an arm is lost or your child dies in a car accident. When people move on and survive, it’s a tribute to their inner strength, and an inspiration for the rest of us.
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