i work in midtown and when the workload gets heavy and all important feeling(it isn't but who can remember that until your're dying?) surfing seems so far away, like looking down the wrong end of the telescope. Happens to me, happens really bad to bro #2 the hard working traveling working stiff who'd gotten out once this year and had basically forgotten "why we go" (aka the stoke)
So who'da thunk in mid July, on a family vacation on a lake in New England, in last weeks 90º weather, that the the chance would present itself for one of those perfect sessions.
It did, it seemed to defy logic that we could drive down to the coast at all, that we had brought boards and wetties more by osmosis than any real thought of a go-out. But we did, and we did go. Here's how it went according to my Facebook post:
I had an amazing surf with two of my brothers in NH. It wasn't supposed to be much at all, but the weather quieted and the air stilled and the marine layer rolled in and it was absolute magic. We surfed until it was dark and there was feeling all through the line up that this was a pretty special moment. It was twilight and the shore was lit up bright orange and the riding surfers were silhouetted black against this hazy gorgeous glow. The sky behind us, out to sea, was pink and grey with fat wet clouds that had the courtesy to not rain on us. The waves were a deep green and sometimes as tall as I was. Mostly not, but they were easy friendly waves and I think they enjoyed our company as much as we enjoyed theirs. I watched my two younger brothers as they played in the water and I'm pretty sure it was what people mean when they say they've seen the face of god.
So the debrief is: I went back out at 5:15 the next morning with bro#3 to even bigger surf, back before the kids were up etc. I sat outside and was rewarded with the macker with my name written in script across it's face. Lots of woots riding through the line up inside. (who doesn't like that? come on!)
Bro#2 goes out later the same day, gets up the next morning and takes his old fave beater board in for a face lift and then jumps in the pool so he won't be such a fat fark when we go on our boys-only Cali surf trip next month, and swears he's going out again tomorrow..... me too!!
That's why we go. Easy to forget. I just wanted to remind you all. Aloha.
-s
