A Wave A Day

Summer is here.

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Guess Where?

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Free box of Emergen-C Pink to the first person to guess the correct location!

Channeling Pippi!

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I think I dressed up like Pippi Longstocking three years in a row for Halloween growing up. It was just too easy. I already felt like her – and so I all I needed was some wire in my braids!
I took a “pass” (as my kids would call it) on getting anything done today and swam with the kids for hours and then surfed in the evening with Laura.
It is important to PLAY! I often find myself climbing up on things – balancing on other things – swinging from what ever I can… And in these moments, I feel most free.
Even if just for a second.

photo by Laura Huston
I can’t wait to wake up and play again tomorrow… sorry messy house, you will have to wait another day.

Idaho!

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When I loaded the plane in San Diego with my surfboard – heading to Idaho, I got a few funny looks. Everyone assumed that I was coming from a surf trip… not on my way to a surf trip.
I didn’t find any waves in Idaho – the rivers were raging with runoff. But I did find some serious fresh air, chilly creeks and high mountain lakes.

Congrats to my dearest Alida and her love Erik! Thanks for having me up to Hailey! Cheers to your beautiful love you share!

Breakfast salad

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I have been making this particular recipe for many years and I thought I would share it today.
In June in San Diego – we are often covered in a think marine layer… so this is my ways of making a cup of sunshine you can drink.

I don’t know the exact ratios but it goes a little something like this:

Handful of frozen strawberries
one banana
glop of yogurt (If using plain – add a little honey:)
splash and a half of fresh o.j.
bit of water or milk (any kind of milk will do)
BLEND
Then add a few ice cubes
And two handfuls of fresh spinach
BLEND again and enjoy!

Loaded with vitamins and minerals – it is my favorite way to start the day.

Skunked

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Sort of got skunked today. Ridiculously good waves everywhere… swells like this don’t come around too often. I attempted to take off on dozen perfect waves – but I just had no life force.
It happens. And if anything – I had an amazing time paddling out into the glassy evening. It was beyond beautiful.
And a better time looking back at the beach watching my boys have the best time with their pals.
Here’s to Beacons, good friends, and coming home with an extra pound of sand in the truck. (And apparently a few rocks I found in my pockets! – I plan to get Ollie back for that one tomorrow)

June 24th

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I am pretty sure today is my Mom and my Dad’s 44th wedding anniversary.
I was on the phone with Mom and I totally blew it – and forgot to wish her congratulations.
Epitome of my day.
Totally distracted and unfocused.
I turned the garden over – just put my head down for a while – thinking maybe digging in the dirt would help.

It wasn’t until I actually got in the water did I start to feel right side up again.
I felt like a fish out of water today. Just needed to get my gills wet so I could feel myself again.
Such a cliche statement – but it really is true. I need water.

So here’s to you Mom and Dad. I envy you both, thank you for everything, and cherish all the love in our family like nothing else.
Thanks for letting me wet my gills.
Happy 44th!
44… whoa.

Seal friend

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About the last three times I have surfed near Cardiff Reef – I have been met by a seal. Sometimes a quick hello and other times a lingering look.
Today was like no other…
After my last wave in – I looked behind me to see if I could ride a whitewash in the rest of the way over the reef.
And right behind me was the seal.
Literally – right behind me.
4 ft?
Pretty much totally freaked I fled to the beach and ran out of the water – and there he was… still right behind me.
I turned around and stopped and sort of squatted down.
He washed himself up on to the sand and rolled over on his side and just looked at me.
A few people stopped on the beach and even more people came to see from the campground above.
Here I was – face to face with this sweet totally docile seal who just sat there looking at me.
Really face to face – 4ft or less.
He blinked a few times – but continued to look at me in my eyes.
At this point it felt really special.
I looked back up and there were nearly 30 people all gathered round – and one woman yelled out, “you have a friend!”
It was one of those strange/special moments that don’t happen often.
And I don’t even really like seals – but he was really cute.
I had to get home by 6 – glancing at my watch quickly, I noticed I had about 8 minutes to do so.
I said bye to him and started walking south down the beach towards my car –
At the same time – he got back in the water and swam along side of me for about 100 yards.
Still looking over at me.

My Mother in Law gave me a book of Medicine Cards when I was in college and from time to time I pull them out and get really into it.
So tonight I looked up seal.
And these were some of the words that has to do with drawing a seal card – or maybe having a seal come to you in nature.
Agility
Intuition
Kinship with Inner Voice
Inquisitiveness
Organization
Imagination
Creativeness
And with these things in your spirit – a sort of Dive In and Go For It type of attitude.

I’ll take it – for whatever it is worth. Coincidence is a shabby word.

Feeling local

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Out in the water the other night – a fellow surfer asked me if I normally surf around where we were. I answered, “yeah, mostly.”
And today, I realized that I do – I surf in the same spots ALL the time. I love going to new places – but it is a totally different story when you are out in the water.
Last night I started watching Am Limit (To the Limit), a story about two brothers who try to break the speed climbing record on the Nose of El Cap in Yosemite. This movie is all about facing your fears, and what that offers you in the fulfillment of your own life.
I have been faced with many fears in my life – and a small one that I wanted to overcome today was paddling out at Table Tops, just me and two other guys out. A nice south swell was hitting just right, and it looked amazing from the cliff. A man lost his life to a shark there a while back, and I never have paddled out there no matter how good the waves look. It is not that I think I am going to get eaten by a shark – that is not the fear. It is the long paddle over the super dark depths and the facing reef that the wave breaks on. It is new. Unfamiliar. Way out there! And well – it isn’t Turtles on a small sparkly day.
If I had been with someone else – my mind would not have been focused on the lurking depths. But I was all alone. And on my short board – which added a bit of length to the journey.
I faced it. Lived it. And soaked it up for all it was worth. Caught the first wave that swung in – and that was that.
Accomplished.
Seems trivial to most people who surf- but for me… it made my heart race.

This is an older photo I took but it has always stuck with me. It is actually the only photo I have a print of hanging in my house. And today I realized, I am a local to my own breaks. I feel at home there. I know how the swell will turn in there, and I know what the crowd will be like, and it is closest to my home. Less than a mile south today- was like a different world.
Here is to fears. Here is to local love.

Wanderlust

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There is something about traveling that I can never really put into words. It is a time when life offers you free of charge fresh perspective. A chance to reflect and breath without having to slow down.
I knew that this project was going to take many directions, but when you put yourself out there, and in return comes serendipitous moments – you know you are in the right place at the right time.

On my first day in Idaho I drove down to the Silver Creek – a spring creek that is famous for it’s oversized and abundant fish. I was hoping to float the pink board down a stretch in the lower part of the valley. When I got there, time stood still for a moment. The water was clear – the sun was warm, and Pinky and I sat on the bank to take it all in for a moment. I thought for sure I would see many people fishing. But there was no one in sight.
I drove down the way and came across a little spot where there were some trailers parked – and I saw one person by their camp. I walked up – explained what I was doing and asked if he would drive me back up the river with my board so I could float a small stretch. Before I knew it, Brad was fixing the board between his two 4-wheelers in the back of the truck and driving me back up river. Turns out, his wife Joni has recently lost her mother to Breast Cancer. And here, at a moment like this – I know I am on the right path. Doing what ever it is I am doing with this project. She thanked me and I dedicated that day on the river to Joni’s mom.

I am really excited to take the Pink Board on her next adventure… where should I go?