If it's Friday, I must be surfing

It must be Friday!! That's my usual surfing day, and I always look forward to some afternoon surf. Although the waves were less than perfect...downright crappy to be exact...I still had fun. The surfing takes my mind off of things. I can be a million miles away when I'm out in the water. My experiment with sunglasses ended rather abruptly today when a wave caught me off guard and knocked them off of my face. I had no idea they would come off that easily. In fact, it happened so fast that I didn't even see what direction they went. I was just in the wrong place and the wrong time. I've attached a photo of today's surf so that I can remember what it was like when I read my description. The board is Brian's surf lesson board. (His student fell off and I snapped this shot.)

I can't complain too much though. Every once in awhile a decent little wave would push through and I would get a ride. I didn't really miss many today. Of course, that's not saying much since I didn't catch all that many either. However, I was patient and caught just about everything I tried to surf. Sometimes, the wave would close out fast, and I would get a very short ride. But, a short ride is still better than no ride. Several surfers were out. Brian was giving a lesson. I finally got a great photo of her actually standing. (She had a rough time.) Of the other five or six surfers out, only a couple of them were very good. Although, one of them didn't really look fantastic when he was up, he was still able to catch the wave and ride it sideways down the wave, which gave him a much longer ride. I hope to be able to do that one day soon.

This week has been a much more positive week than last week. I'm so glad! I'm ready for some good times. Surfing on a Friday afternoon is one of those times, that's for sure.

Does Size Matter?

Midsummer flats! During the middle of our Texas summers, the waves disappear. However, if there is enough wind, which is also something that erupts often in Texas, small and manageable waves will peak through on the inside near the jetty and the shore. Although it's not an ideal situation for surfing, I'm usually so desperate for anything that I will go down to 43rd if a ripple even exists. And, sometimes, these waves prove to be very beneficial to me for practice. Today was a perfect example. Much to the chagrin of Brian, I took my new 8'1" McTavish with me even though Brian said the waves were really small. Brian urged me to bring a longer board, but I need all the practice I can get with the shorter board. (Note: my board is not a SHORT board; it is a mini-longboard.) So, "Sunshine" and I went to the beach. Because I was a little hesitant about my ability on the shorter board, I also took "Goldie," my 9' Softop. (I keep changing the name of my Softop! It's going to have an identity crisis if I keep it up.) I realize that it will take a long time for me to get really good on the shorter board, or a longer board for that matter, but I'm sure having fun trying.

I found this article online about surfing small surf. I thought it was very interesting, and loved the first paragraph, which basically pointed out that surfing small surf was what most people had to do. Although, I doubt anyone's surf is as small as mine was today, I like reading about advanced surfers being forced to surf 2-ft. waves.

http://surf.transworld.net/1000002624/features/how-to-rip-in-small-surf/

From the article:

"When paddling for bigger waves, the wave does most of the work. In small waves, you do the work. One thing you should do if you want to rip small waves is cardio-vascular training. Either run, bike, swim, or whatever you do to get your heart rate going."

Well, I'm glad to see that my running and biking help with the surfing too. I definitely feel like I get a workout on the smaller waves, but I'm able to stay out for three or four hours without burning myself out probably because of my other sports. I realized today that size doesn't have to matter!

Bumpy week and a date request from a superhero

I was glad when I made it to Galveston today and saw some small, but rideable waves. I needed some surf time, which ended up being quite cathartic and a great ending to a rough week. I don't really want to go into it in this blog right now, but, although the week started rather smoothly, it was quite bumpy during the rest of it. I experienced extreme sadness this week, but I'm fairly certain that I would not change a thing. I learned a few things about myself and about others. I'm proud that I didn't seek complete strangers' approval, but I am also disappointed that I didn't hold my ground on one thing.

I can't get one part of my week out of my mind. It's a quote I heard, one that was originally written by Tolstoy in "Anna Karenina": "Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." Wow!

Originally, I thought I would surf during the week, but it didn't work out. I was glad I got to go today though. By the time I arrived after work, Brian had completed his lesson, Robin had already been surfing several hours and Angie was almost ready to leave. I surfed with all of them for about an hour before they all ditched me to wrap up their lives for the week. So, I had the waves almost to myself. One other surfer had arrived about 30 minutes after I had gotten there. The surfer had a kid with him. He had the kid on a longboard, while he sat beside the kid on a short board. The tattooed surfer was trying to teach the kid how to surf. He explained to me that the kid was a friend's kid. After a some small talk, he asked me what kind of music I liked. Having not been asked out in many, many years, I had forgotten the small talk and was then completely caught off guard when the guy asked me if he could get my phone number and take me to a concert. It was a wonderful invitation and ending to a sad week! His name was Bruce Wayne...just like Batman. He laughed when I said that and told me he gets that comparison alot. I wonder what it would have been like to date a superhero. My thanks to Bruce! I'm sure I'll be seeing him again at the 43rd street jetty.