Introducing Masa to the Mat

We had only one degree of separation at the most and we seemed to travel in neighboring skater circles. Word came down the pike that Masa was curious about surf mats. He wanted to get out in the water on one.

I, of course, jumped all over that, sending him the message that we could take the mat out when he was ready.

Last weekend, he was ready!

I kept him in the whitewater. That turned out to be a prudent move. At one point, I asked how well he swam. Let's just say he won't be going leashless any time soon. Anyway, he tried the mat, smiled a great deal, lost a fin at one point and generally had a wonderful time. I was happy to be of assistance to a fellow skater, a dedicated one. Masa is as nice as everyone said he is. His English is a little spotty at times. And I speak no Japanese, so there were times when I was using some senseless sign language to try and express myself. We will be doing this again though.

Stay tuned for the second episode of "Introducing Masa to the Mat".