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Surfing: taking a fresh breath
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Photo by N. Latasa
The broad wings of a gliding pelican aimed straight for me as I paddled out for one more wave. The massive bird never flinched as it passed over my head on its way towards the pier. I turned around on a giant, orange board, got to my feet, and angled towards the shore on a glassy, knee-high wave through a morning fog that dripped like potato soup. Though I am a bit awkward on a longboard I rode the tiny lump of water to the sand with a wide grin on my face that still persists as I write these words a few hours later.
I have not been on a shortboard for over two weeks. Mother Ocean is resting. The waves in North County have gone idle as the sea adjusts to the change in seasons. Ordinarily I would start freaking out around now with the lack of surf. It happens to those of us who crave the movement of the sea. We get cranky, we fall into despair when she sleeps. Yet, here I sit, content after an ankle slapper session. Do not get me wrong, I am pining for the next swell to approach with great anticipation, but riding different boards, longboards, funboards, whatever boards, for the past few days has been a breath of fresh air. To slow it all down and feel the rails, feel the glide, the simple pleasure of moving across the water has evoked those blessed emotions that I first experienced when I began surfing. The joy, the thrill, the release that surfing allows.
Often we get caught up on our preferences. Longboard, shortboard, eggboard, fish, what type of surfer are you? We all have one form of equipment that suits our styles, our desires, our passions the best, but in our efforts to refine our actions on the boards we prefer, we can become narrow minded in the way we approach a wave and how we interact with it as it rolls to the shore. Taking a step away, a trip on another vehicle offers a fresh outlook, a different perspective that is re-energizing my surfing. Same could be said with our everyday existence, a timeout, an altered view, a shuffle in the reiterated patterns, is healthy for the soul. Necessary for our being. Seek out the change, embrace the shifts in normality and flow with what nature provides and she will give back the elation we desire.
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