Women of the Waves

While sunning myself on the beach in Jamaica and drinking one of those sugary alcohol drinks with pineapples, I began reading a book I recently ordered from the Web titled "Surfing Women of the Waves." My day was beautiful. The sun was out and despite a cool evening yesterday, it had warmed to the upper 70s and was the perfect weather for sunning oneself. I could hear and see the waves coming up the shore. As I listened to the glorious sound, I read about the women who had helped shape surfing; those who had made it possible for a woman like me to think I could learn what was once a predominantly male sport. I read about the original Gidget, a woman named Kathy Kohner now Kathy Zuckerman, who, with her father, wrote the Gidget book based on many of her experiences. Needless to say, Gidget "took off," becoming a TV series and several movies. In fact, reruns of the old Gidget TV series was probably my first introduction to surfing. The book tells the stories of many inspirational women surfers; some who have died and some who still surf today. It mentions documentaries I must now try to find and tells about incredible places that I wouldn't mind visiting, not necessarily for me to surf since I doubt I'll learn everything I need to know during my week in March, but just to visit. Who knows, maybe I'll get so addicted to surfing that I can't stop doing it; maybe I'll ride the big waves in all the places I read about; or maybe I'll just ride them in my dreams.


"In their 1960s hit, "Surf City," Jan and Dean sang of this mythical place where 'they're either out surfing, or they got a party going.' Huntington Beach, generally understood to be the inspiration for the tune, has long been the epicenter of California surf culture."
"Surfing Women of the Waves"
p. 97

Toto, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore

So, I'm at my favorite local pub in Bacliff, the Bayview Duck, when one of the owners comes over to chat. She and the other owner -- her husband -- travel a lot, so it's quite entertaining to find out where they are going or where they have recently gone. She's excited about their next trip in April where they will cruise around the Galapagos Islands on a Celebrity cruise ship. Sounds like fun! While discussing the trip with her and drinking my beer, I mention that I will be going to Jamaica this weekend and to Nicaragua in March. She has a shocked look on her face and says, "Have you looked at the political stuff going on in Nicaragua?" She goes on to tell me that they had planned to go there last November, but canceled when they heard about protests in Managua. Although I read the newspaper and watch the evening news, I was unaware of anything going on in Nicaragua. While the thought of being caught up in some Nicaraguan revolution doesn't sound good to me, I definitely don't want to cancel my trip because of the possibility. I will have to monitor things more closely. She gave me the Web address of the Nicaraguan newspaper so that I could check things myself. I will have to do that. But to anyone who might be reading this, if you hear of a group of American women being held hostage in a hut in Nicaragua during March, be sure to call the state department.

On another note, I was able to swim a little later this morning because of the MLK holiday. All of us who swam today, though, did so in very cold water. The heater still is not working in the pool. However, after a couple of laps, it feels perfect to me. I'm not sure how much longer the heater will be out, but getting up at 4:40 to be at the pool by 5 a.m. can be hard enough without the water temperature adding to the discomfort. It would be much easier to stay home in bed. After all, there's no place like home...there's no place like home...there's no place like home.