Back Home Again

There's a good reason why we call our home breaks "home". Although the waves looked better at Venice Pier this morning, I drove over to the home break to see how the waves looked there. If surfing was only about the waves, I would have headed back to Venice. The waves there looked much better. So why did I stay home? Easy. My peeps are there. What's better is almost all of them were there today. That was all the reason I needed to stay put. First, our little surf family arrived right after I got there. Then, as I stood in the parking lot trying to decide if I should head back to better waves, Gracefullee came running up with a huge grin. We never see each other anymore. Once I saw her, I knew I wasn't leaving. I wanted to stay with the people I love. I couldn't believe that the majority of the crew was out today; most of us were in the water at the same time. There was a lot of catching up to do. This was the perfect day for it. The first hour in the water was spent doing a lot of sitting. Although high tide had passed an hour earlier, the ocean behaved like the tide was getting higher. There wasn't a lot to do out there except paddle furiously for waves that backed off . . . or talk (while waiting for waves that held shape). After an hour in the water, the shape changed for the better. By then most of us were too tired to attack those waves. I was cold and in the throes of a shiver fest. Others were simply tired. Most of us got out after about an hour and a half. I got a few nice rides today. Soul Brother #1 took pictures of us after doing his workout.

I still look like a dork with this damn skullcap on my head. I've put the hoodie away. Now I surf with two stocking caps. They work quite well at keeping my almost-locks in place. My hair is still changing. What I thought were locks a few months ago . . . were not. They were twists. My hair began to truly lock over the last month or so. How can I tell? Well, the twists can literally be untwisted, leaving you with a virtually straight bunch of hair. What happens with the locks, from what I can see on my own head, is that the hair is twisted and then some of that hair grows through the twists in such a way that it literally locks the twists in place. They can't be undone or combed out. Much of my hair is finally at that point. With luck, I'll be able to feel the water run through my scalp by the end of June.

I don't know if I'll get a session tomorrow. I'd lined up a babysitter on Friday. I couldn't catch up with her today. I don't like to do things at the last minute, especially when they involve my child. So I may have to sit tomorrow out.


SETTING UP FOR THE BOTTOM TURN