Sunday, December 09, 2012

Why do you surf? What got you surfing? What keeps you surfing?   
 
Surfing isn’t easy, it takes some time to get good enough at it to catch a wave and ride the thing for a few seconds and not fall.  I watched my grandson catch his first wave this past summer. He had got all wide eyed when he got to his feet and stood on up while being motored along by a wave for a few seconds straight to the sand…. Then hooting.
 
My grandson lives in Colorado,  he wants to come back next summer only stay longer than last summer so he can really get some more surfing in.  Why? 
 
Is it magic?  Really,  If you don’t know,  waves are kind of magic.  They come from nowhere, build up and roll over into a bunch of bubbles, wash up on the beach and clean any lumps, holes, foot prints off the sand.  I see people at the beach watching the waves, each wave does the same thing but each one is different. What makes people just watch the waves? 
 
Reality, waves travel for thousands of miles to finally crash on the beach you may be standing on. And that same wave could be miles long. A band of energy that stretches from one beach town to another.  And there you are sitting on your surfboard about 30 yards out in the ocean waiting for that one wave you’d like to catch and let it’s energy propel you along on your surfboard for 10 seconds until the wave rolls over and turns into a bunch of bubbles washing onto some beach… gone forever.  Then you paddle your surfboard back out to that spot some 30 yards in the ocean and try to catch another one, before it too is gone forever.
 
That’s some kind of weird, and only a surfer knows the feeling!
 
D.R.
 

 

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I guess after 45 yrs. of surfing, my stoke level had started to wane. Crowds and aging probably contributed to that but my recent purchase of a used 8ft. Costco softboard has greatly helped get my stoke level back to a normal level. I don't know what it is about this board, its made for beginners, crudely shaped, anything but high performance, but so much fun. Maybe its the thickness, combined with the softness that gives you a feeling of floating across the waves on a pillow or something. It almost felt like catching my first wave ever. It actually trims pretty good. Anyway, these boards might not be for everyone, but it was the definite shot in the arm I needed.