One More Wave

~ tomadaonline ~ 1 Comment

The day before I got married in 1986, my brother who was also my best man, went surfing with me. It was a glorious day at Waddel Creek, a few miles north of Santa Cruz, CA. The sky was blue, the wind gently offshore. The waves were moderate and well formed. We caught lots.

It didn’t occur to me, when I took a toilet break and had the runs, that I shouldn’t have been in the water to start, and it was clearly time to get out. But there was surf and my favorite surf partner was with me, if only for one short outing. So I continued, as my throat felt more ragged, as my lungs started to warm toward a burn.

This past week, some 29 years later, I was fighting a cold. It’s been nagging since I returned home from our three week east coast swing back in October. The waves here have been huge. Way too big for me, but on Tuesday it settled down. I hit the surf, caught a couple of little waves and felt unusually fatigued. But there were still waves so I stayed out. The tide was receding, the offshore wind increasing, and when I finally decided to quit, it was difficult to paddle in. I managed to find the shore and stumbled to my car.

Today my cold is much worse. My body is begging for rest. But I have one more thing to do before I can take a break.

Written in response to the Daily Prompt: Flawed

Dog Days

~ tomadaonline ~ 1 Comment

One of my Bay Area friends posted this clip on Facebook yesterday. It’s from a group called The Inertia. I watched it twice, then showed it to my wife. I’ll watch it again.

For one, the guy is so graceful, but the dogs. OMG the dogs are adorable. And the wave is way longer than the rides I usually get. Way longer.

My goal is to be as relaxed and balanced as this guy, but without the dogs.

 

Wild Ocean

~ tomadaonline ~ 5 Comments

The ocean is big today.  It was bigger yesterday.  The water is a good 10 degrees colder than it was in September.  Fall is here.  Winter is coming.  I’ve been fighting a bug which has kept me from the water.  But I still need a fix to overcome my hopeless addiction to the ocean’s charm.  Whether it’s a walk on the beach or making a short video of the current conditions, it’s all about the ocean, its size, its smell, its moods.

 

SUP Video with just an iPhone

~ tomadaonline ~ 4 Comments

It was a long day and the surf was outstanding, but I wasn’t near the surf until sunset.  I still had chores to complete and no time to get my “real” camera so I walked in close to the shore and shot some SUP footage using my iPhone 6S+.  The only paddleboarder in the water caught a couple of waves while I watched.  Add a little music, a little creative editing license and voila.  A short video.  A very short video.

 

Thanksgiving Moon

~ tomadaonline ~ Leave a comment

The moon sets bright as

thin lines march from the crisp horizon

toward surfers playing faster

than tunes sung by a gull.

 

Slipping and slashing

they trade their tears

for a fast paced

backside beach break .

 

A single session sends

hatred under the bridge,

while winds of change

sweep clean a

purely present breath.

 

First find one,

then another.

 

PS.  Inspiration to write c/o Run Towards Each Other by Katherine Riegel