I made it one month! Doesn’t seem like much when you look at the length of the rest of the calendar year, but it’s something!
Best part so far – immersion in all things ocean and sky. Worst part – I keep getting sick.
I am ready for one of those great surf stoke days… when you count the hours till you can go back out again, and relive the best waves over and over in your head, and a semi-dorky smile is plastered on your face.
Today was not one of those days – high tide+dead swell=bla surf conditions.
I mostly sat out there and stared at the cool cloud formations overhead.
And I am so thankful for my friend Laura – who has a great “surf no matter what” mentality. I love it.
You would think the ocean was angry if it weren’t for the sunny skies and easing westerlies.
Better luck tomorrow for cleaner conditions.
(I thought for a moment today that maybe, just maybe, I could have ditched the wetsuit! – It may have had something to do with the minute amount of time I actually spent in the water today)
Sometimes after I am sick I come back to life with a vengeance. I felt like I could have ran a marathon today!
With my new found energy and sizable super crappy waves, I decided to take out a new board that was gifted to me by a true craftsman. The shaper, Todd McFarland has a gift. A talent. He has really found his “art.” My husband and brother in law swear that Todd’s boards have transformed their surfing. And man, I hope I can say the same after I get to ride that board on some fun waves. Thanks Todd. I am truly grateful to be riding one of your boards.
There are so many ways to make a difference in this world and to undo all the crazy bad that we have done to this earth. So many people think that it takes a ‘visionary’ or a ‘revolutionary’ to make a change – but I truly believe that all it takes is making little changes in our daily decisions.
World Minded has just made me an Ambassador for their great company who are doing their part to give back. Learn more about what they do here : www.worldminded.com
P.S. And of course now there happen to be waves! After suffering the stomach flu yesterday I tried my hardest to make it outside tonight with little success. Two days of no food = zero energy at battling enormous whitewash. I looked back at the beach, realized I had drifted 100′s of yards down while attempting to push through the walls of water rushing over me (and shuffling when touching the bottom since the sting ray sighting yesterday!) I turned around and headed back to the beach and luckily a perfect wave reformed and swung right at me and I got a ride in.
Sunshine
Sand – everywhere.
Salty hair
Sloppy waves
Sting rays… (yes – I saw my first one today. That means summer is almost here!)
Stomach flu
Serenity
Today I got an email that was a lovely reminder of what a small world this is and how I feel like I am on the right path…
I thought I would share it with you:
“Hi Sarah_as an eleven year breast cancer survivor, I am following your Pink Board project with interest. First, because of the aftermath of cancer that I still deal with, having had bilateral mastectomy with lymph node dissection. Secondly, because my son, Wyatt, did the color work and lamination on your board. So many people do not realize that big name craftsman surfboard craftsman send out custom boards to others who specialize in color work and lamination. Anyway, I think it is cool that your passion to raise awareness for breast cancer lead to your custom made board being sent to the son of a breast cancer survivor, whose passion is color work and strong lamination in the surfboard industry. I appreciate all the planning prior to beginning your project and your commitment to see it through to completion.”
I would like to honor the woman who wrote this email, her strength and her daily courage. And I would like to give a shout out to her son Wyatt for doing an amazing job with the color work on my beautiful board! (Turns out his son and my son went to the same preschool too!) Small world indeed!
This same model board will soon be available for sale in the SHOP section of this website – with the proceeds of the sale going to KAB! Check back soon!
I bought a box of Sleepytime tea, brewed myself a cup before bed last night and for the next 6 hours wondered why the heck I wasn’t asleep.
Waking up after less than 4 hours sleep is not a welcome start to my day. Apparently, the Valerian had an adverse effect on me. I was floating around in a cloud that no amount of coffee was able to fix. I swung by Indigo Dragon and was able to sneak in for a quick treatment with Ashley. I left there feeling SO much better, revived and ready to go. Then I met my friend Laura for a super fast surf in the sunshine! Man I love the sun!
Next time I will be buying Indigo Dragon’s own special blend of night time tea with no Valerian!
