Well, Christmas came and went, or as we Murphy's call it, 'Record Fourth Quarter Earnings for the Jack Daniels Distillery'. It was great to have Mom and Dad here for the festivities, even though I will now have to replenish my supply of Mr. Daniels, vermouth, Guinness, as well as a large portion of my pickled liver. Between dinners at my house, Ian's house, and any number of restaurants that would still have us, lets just say the Murphy men were feeling no pain, as well as living up to our Irish heritage......daily. Since most everyone that reads this was present for the holidays, there is not much to tell. As usual, everyone was too generous, way too much food was eaten, and great times were had by all. This Christmas was special too, because Gram and Gramps made the trip from Arizona to be with us for a week.
I hadn't surfed in four days. I wanted to. I got up every beautiful morning to check the waves, but they have been small to non existent. It is a shame too, because we have had amazing weather for January. We're talking high 70's to low 80's, and not a breath of wind in the mornings, except a few light offshore days. (the only thing better than no wind). Today, I was determined to go out no matter what. I loaded up my small wave gear and headed to the beach. Another beautiful day with no wind or clouds in the sky was on tap. As I paddled out, or walked out into a glassy Lake Pacific, I was struck by the fact I could actually see the bottom of the ocean, something we don't take for granted here. Even better were the schools of dolphin swimming around me. We usually get to see them breach and break the surface of the murky water for air, but to see them swim around and under you was really something special. I reached the line up to find perfect tiny point break like waves running off the sandbar in front of the Santa Ana river delta. I was alone, well, almost alone. One long boarder, one kayaker, and I shared wave after wave. I would swear each wave was going to be my last, but then I would kick out and paddle back out giggling to myself like a grom (little kid surfer, Mom). Every wave was perfect, and each without a drop of water out of place, albeit no bigger than knee high.
I wish I could share it with you somehow. Oh wait, there is. For Christmas, my employees decided to forgo the assault on my liver this year, and opted for a more permanent gift that I could use for Nicaragua. They got me the new Kodak Mi8. It is about the size of a Blackberry smart phone, and takes HD video and still photos. It looks like this:
Mine is all black
Untitled from Sean Murphy on Vimeo.
It also takes mighty fine stills. Yes, I am enjoying my minivan, and am not defensive at all about it. What's that, did you snicker right there? You better not have, cuz I will kick your ass. KICK . YOUR . ASS. How'd you like to get a beatin from a guy that drives a minivan, huh? Not so funny now, right? But seriously, It is the perfect car, as you can see here. This minivan aint gonna have spilled juice from sippy cups, petrified McDonalds fries, car seats, crumb crunchers' greasy hand prints on the windows, Finding Nemo in the drop down DVD player, or granulated gold fish crackers in the carpet. No, it's gonna have rotten wetsuit stench, dog hair, surfer magazines, a library full of surf DVDs, sunscreen, and melted surf wax in the carpet.
I don't drink orange juice by the gallon, it's hot water for that ghetto, but extremely satisfying, parking lot shower.
I told you, not a breath of wind. Slack tide, not going in or out.
Tell me that doesn't look inviting. Only bummer was that I doubled the crowd when I paddled out. But hey, that wave was crying for someone to surf that right, it'd be a shame...
Only clouds were man made today
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