It's been exactly 11 months and 14 days since I was first pushed into a wave. Honestly, I never thought I'd be sticking with this until now. I also never thought I'd get past the stage of being pushed by an instructor. It hasn't even been a year yet...but I feel as if I've been doing this for a long time. Last Sunday was the first time I surfed. And by "surfed" I mean that I was there alone doing my own thing. Aside from the tips and reminders Adam gave me before paddling out...it was just me, the unfamiliar sea, and a lineup of strangers except for Adam and Joan.
As I positioned myself in the lineup, I decided to just sit and watch. I have this bad habit of belittling myself when it comes to these things. I just studied the waves and the hierarchy out there. And then it nagged on my mind, "What's all those months being pushed wave after wave perfecting your balance? What about the times you paddled like crazy just to get out there? What about all the people who who encouraged you and worked so hard just to help you get stronger, braver and smarter in the water? What was it all for if you're just going to sit and watch?" So, I decided to catch a wave. I missed a few times...and then I tried to recall all those months of trial and error and tips from my mentors (and husband)...and I paddled so hard....finally, I caught a wave. An overhead wave at that! Well I was able to ride it for about what....a second or two before the speed and power of the wave left me behind. I got tumbled under but I surfaced with a smile on my face. I finally figured out how to catch darn waves! This happened a few times for the whole morning...me catching waves...but failing to keep up with it's speed. I was again thinking of all the things I was taught until everything fell into place. I was riding waves this weekend...I was picking which ones to catch by my own judgement. I was so stoked.
But among other things, there were also more lessons learned last
weekend. I learned that it's not my fault that I popped up above
somebody because I was in priority of that wave. Imagine my horror when
somebody was suddenly under my board still paddling while I was already
up and about to ride. I bailed but the board hit that person. I was also
horrified when I caught a wave and then somebody suddenly paddled in
front of me! Also, that moment when I was paddling out back to the
lineup but failed to make it on a big set. I forgot to bail and the lip
literally threw me away. I got tumbled under for a few seconds; couldn't
figure out where was up and down...when I popped out of the water the
board I was holding wasn't even mine. Funny...but it kind of left me a
little stunned. We also got cuts and bruises on our feet because of the
rocky bottom of that certain surf spot.
I know I am
just starting in this journey and I have more to learn...but for now I
am happy to be surfing on my own. I am also so in sync with my husband's
8'0 board that we already switched. We had a great weekend. :)
And now for the second part of my post:
41/52
"A portrait of my daughter, once a week, every week, in 2014."
I missed this little nugget when we went to surf without her. But we realized that sometimes we really need time away from her. I think Bean needs it too. Because she was extra sweet and extra good when we came home. But....she was so smart to have figured out where we went. I guess it was the sunburn...or the smell of the sea...or the bag of wet clothes...
While we were eating dinner she asked her daddy: "Did you go to the beach?" We cannot lie....so Adam told her we did. To which she replied with a stern face: "But you did not bring me." So we promised to take her next time. The day after I told her we had to dress up to do the groceries and she told me she didn't want to go to the mall; she just wants to go the beach. Aaaah, we feel so lucky she's such a trooper!
So that's all for now. We're busy recovering from that epic trip.
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