Restless

After surfing,  I usually
spend a little time relaxing
with a sandwich. This
is a sign from one of my
favorite places.

Sometimes, no matter how good things seem, I want something more. I should be perfectly happy that I get to surf at all, but, no, I want to surf more and I want to surf whenever the waves are perfect and not just when I have time. Oh my! Last week, it became painfully obvious that I wasn't going to have the time to go surfing on Friday. I needed to spend some time with family and Friday was the only day I had for it. I checked the surf report, and it looked as though there would be waves on Thursday. And, there were. It was choppy, but at least the waves were ride-able...if you could make it out. I struggled with the current, but still managed to catch one or two; although, I must admit that most of them were whitewater by the time they reached me. I made it to the outside, but I still caught most of my waves after they broke. It seemed that no matter where I was, the wave broke just before me. I caught one or two as they were breaking and had a ball. Those were my longest rides. I turned some and tried to get a good position on my board. Had a ball! It just feels good to be out there. I surfed on the east side of the 36th street jetty, and I'm so glad I had the opportunity to get out there. I hear that the waves Friday morning were better with the wind being slightly out of the north, but I don't care 'cause at least I got to surf.

Rain tapped the window early on Sunday morning, but by the time I got out of bed, it was more than a tap. It poured. The surf looked "okay" early on, but I didn't feel like loading up to go all the way down just to find out that it was lightning and that I couldn't go in the water. I waited until the storms let up and checked the webcam again. By about noon, it looked windier but less stormy. So, I packed up Roxanne (my 9') and headed to 43rd. At least five other surfers were in the water when I got there. While watching the webcam, I had noticed quite a few go out and leave, but the place was never empty. I think all of the weekend warriors like me were just glad to have something to surf. I hadn't surfed at 43rd in awhile since I had been surfing at 36th. I felt like I had come back home. On rough days, like Sunday, I enjoy having the rip current to take me out. I'm not sure I caught any of the waves that day as they were breaking (maybe one), but I had so much fun. I didn't have a lot of time, but I tried to make the most of it. Although I was surrounded by very experienced surfers, I never felt uncomfortable. And, I seemed to catch as many as them, even if I was catching the waves after they broke. One of the regular surfers there that day told me that I would be better off if I bent down a little more to lower my center of gravity. That's interesting since I had been told by someone else that I needed to stand straighter. I thin I understood what the Sunday "dude" was telling me though. I just need to work on bending lower in my knees. I didn't mind the critique at all since I'm sure he has been surfing much longer AND more often than me. I only get down to the beach a couple of times a week and he probably makes it down every day. I just have to keep trying!

I'm anxious to go somewhere again so that I can surf in calmer, formed waves like those surfing in the Pacific get to experience. I'm thinking about combining two of my sports in September by possibly running a marathon in Costa Rica and then going surfing. Not sure if I will get to do it, but I sure like planning as if I can. It gives me hope and makes me smile! I might want more, but I definitely need to realize that life is good and that the waves I have are better than no waves at all.