Moments

I had one of my "moments" today. I call them moments for lack of a better term. It is not an epiphany, but just a second or minute in time when you get short of breath, and your heart feels like it is going to explode. Not explode in a bad way, or breathless in a panic attack way, but you get Clarity. Clarity and the realization that at that particular time, you are getting everything you could hope for out of life. There is no controlling these moments, you can't see them coming. It is just a feeling that washes over you, and is gone before you know it. I have had these moments while coaching and playing soccer with Meghan, while SCUBA diving with Mom, Dad, and Dawn, or while doing nothing more than eating a burger with Dawn and Meghan at Rubys. Most of the time I get them while surfing, usually alone. Today was one of those days.

After dropping the kids at school, I came home for the usual routine of drinking that second cup o joe, checking email, knocking out a bit of yoga, and then knocking out both cups of coffee..nuff said. Load the truck with boards and gear, and start the pilgrimage through traffic after most of the cubicle farmers have arrived at work. Uh oh, construction at the end of the 55fwy, that's gonna add about 15 minutes. Time is of the essence in the surf world. As the sun gets higher in the sky, the winds tend to usually get stronger and stronger, deteriorating conditions. Got to my usual haunt to find the wind already on it. Not only that, the crowd was three times what it usually is. Must have something to do with the week long flat spell previously discussed. There's waves though. Suit up and paddle out. As I walked down the beach for a break in the crowd, I saw a perfect tiger shell, "Meghan would love this.", I thought. If it is still here when I get out, I would pick it up, but with the usual south to north drift, I doubted if I would get out at the same point I entered. Grab a few waves, a couple of decent rides, some good turns. Thirty minutes later, a squall hits from out of nowhere. I mean onshore winds of at least 20 knots if they were 5. Funny thing happened after that, the crowd caught wave in after wave in. (I would have probably gone in too, but as Ian can attest, I have a really hard time going in on a minimal sized, crappy wave.) Next thing I know, the winds stop, the ocean glasses off, and I notice I am the only guy out for 500 yards north and 500 yards south. Totally alone. Well not quite totally alone. During the next hour and a half I was visited by a family of porpoise, a squadron of pelicans, changing their course only after noticing I was smack dab in the way of their low flying bombing run inches off the surface, and even a sea lion watching me quizzically from a safe distance. All were more than likely admiring my superb wave riding skills.....for a human. Then it started to rain. Not a cold, shiver, run for cover rain, but a 70 degree, vertical, playful rain. It was at this moment it hit me, my moment. While paddling back out after another fun, chest high left, and looking to the horizon and seeing shower after shower lined up between Newport and Catalina, I realized I could not have wished to be anyone, anywhere, anytime, other than me, there, now.

After the moment had passed, the ocean served up a nice set wave, a left, good enough to meet my high standards for a 'last' wave. Walking up the beach, I remembered the shell. Not 5 feet from where I entered, I exited, not bad for two and a half hours of surfing. There it was, the tide was going out and left it alone. I picked it up, checked my watch to mentally time my lunch date with Meghan after school, Wednesday is Wahoos Day recently, and noticed I had better jog to the truck.

On the way to the truck I trotted past a guy with his head down, walking out to the surf.

"How was it?"

"Awesome!"

He kinda looked at me sideways, noticing the drizzle, smallish waves, and the wind starting to pick up, "Really?"

"You'll see. Hey, where would you rather be right now? You're surfing on a Wednesday!"

And he then turned and picked up the pace.