For Shizzel, My Nizzel (Exclamation Point)

You'd think, from the looks of that title, that I had an outstanding session with much to tell about. Well, I didn't surf all that well. (CYT refrained from lecturing me about not eating enough and being tired.) Nonetheless, I am truly astounded by the wave at LPB. All I could think was "that is a big-ass, beautiful wave". And every time I thought that, I would then think, "For shizzel, my nizzel!" For those of you who don't speak the language, that's tantamount to saying, "You got that right!" Today I was a bit tired so I wasn't at the top of my game. I just wasn't feelin' it. When that happens, I either get out or simply enjoy my time out in the water. Since CYT and I were there together, I stayed in and watched these waves roll through. We got there at high tide. God only knows what the place can do at low tide. The tide was going out when we left and I swear those were the biggest, most beautiful set waves I've ever seen. Man!!! In addition to not feeling it today, I took a wave that was so good that I was ready to get out right then and there. This was a wave CYT and I took together. It's not the first time we've done that. It's just the first time we've done it without one of us running the other one over. Since we're both goofy, LPB is at the top of our list for spots to surf. I think we've run over one another at both Malibu and Sunset—going backside, of course. Today, we went frontside . . . and it was surreal! I felt like we were moving in slow motion. We both were in complete control. She would go down the wave, I would go up the wave (and vice versa). Finally, I pulled off as the wave petered out. She pulled off perhaps a second later. It was amazing!! It was incredible not so much because we both came out unscathed. It was that I could see everything that was happening with crystal clarity: my board, her board, the wave, etc. It's as if the planets aligned themselves as we rode that wave. I can still see all of it in my mind. CYT, on the other hand, said she could hear my board. I wasn't talking or anything (although I'm sure I was smiling), yet she said she could hear my fin. (Question: how can you hear a fin?) Whatever. If the planets were in fact aligned, then she probably could hear everything since her back was to me. Of course, after that, I was pretty much done. I wasn't in the mood to paddle hard for waves. I wasn't in the mood to scramble over set waves. I just wasn't in the mood. I'd seen something as close to perfection as I'd ever gotten on a wave so everything paled by comparison. I got a few waves. Frankly, that's such an awesome wave when it's firing (and I shudder to think what that wave does in the winter!!!) that I got scared. You take a steep drop on those waves. After awhile, I was too cold to stay out there any longer wearing myself out paddling for waves, missing waves, and scrambling over the set waves. I had to take one in. I think, to be truthful, that was the largest wave I've ridden to date. It seemed enormous. See, my hesitation at LPB is making that drop. It's a long one. I know all I have to do once I'm in the wave is weight my front foot and zoom down the face, but part of me keeps thinking about the drop I'll make if I screw up. That waves today were so tall, at least to me, that I felt like I was out of my league. The good thing about sessions like this, though, is that I will eventually become accustomed to waves like these (i.e., tall and steep, but mushy enough not to kill you if you don't make it). I'll be back there tomorrow. It's the only place that's working with this high tide in the morning. When we drove down PCH at about 1, Sunset was on fire. I think CYT dropped me off and went back. (I had to go to the S.M. Farmer's Market to see my dealer and get a fix . . . of pistachios.) Did you know that I spend about $60 a month on pistachios? That's another story that I won't go into!