Mad props to the state of Massachusetts! Yes, there's a lot of cool, ground breaking stuff that you politicos are aware of, like Deval Patrick winning the gubernatorail race, and becoming Mass' first black gubernor, and I believe only the second Af Am gubernor ever, but what you may NOT know, is that MA informs the voters. YES! The candidates will make themselves known, true. Register to vote, though, and they'll send you a pamphlet about the big issues that voters will vote on. Oh yeah, they have voters vote on big issues, like, can we sell alcohol in the grocery store (even though they sort of already do), and should we let child care providers organize into unions and strike! Take note, Pennsylvania!!!
Winter is staying away for a few days more. In fact, the Massachusetts weather has regressed back to early October. It still looks like this in places on the way home from work on sunny afternoons:
The surf has picked up a bit, so much so, that I've been able to get out two days in a row, have passed by 'lesser wave' days, and accordingly have upgraded from Kook to Novice. I have logged at least 12 hours in the water, surfed in three spots and two states. I plan to 'get wet' tomorrow. The waves, from on shore, look different now; the waves in the water look different, too. I now can tell which are teasers, and which will actually take you somewhere. I still have yet to perfect the stance, and must learn to turn. I've done some really mediocre rides, but it's lots of fun...
Here's the back of the place I'm renting:
Here's my board:
Here's the nose of my board:
My board lives in a 9 foot silver bag, indoors; it does not live on my porch, and nobody's boards should. Mine is only outdoors and out of the bag when it's wet, or on the way to or from the water. The white stuff flecked on it is surf wax, the stuff that helps you stick to your deck.
I've done a bunch of dumb stuff like stalled out a wave, pearled the nose of my board killing a potential ride and jettisoned from my board like an Olympic ... something. I've ridden on one or both knees for most rides, but have discovered that this, although not pretty is acceptable, because kneeling is halfway to stance.
I've done some smart stuff, like the above to avoid hitting another surfer, and just as smart, got out of the high tide waters at Egypt beach, which will beat you up and possibly snap your board. No wonder people were leaving the water! That is strictly a low-tide spot, because at high-tide the waters meet a wall of gravel and golfball-sized stones. This with a five to six foot wall of foamy SLOOSH rushing towards you, as the stuff at knee level and below rushes out from under you, churning up the golfballs and gravel, tearing your board away and out of your arms only to throw it back at you (it is attached by a leash at your ankle), and then knowck you over... this is on the way out into the waves, and on your way back in to shore. It should'nt be this hard I thought, and yeah, it shouldn't. Pro's avoid that stuff, because it is hazardous to your board and you!
I bought a winter suit, a 6/5/4 suit of neoprene that you enter and exit from the neck opening. It's like birth. I now have new sympathy for any and every mother, because of the work getting in and out ofsaid suit, and I haven't even been out when the air temp has dropped below fifty yet. You're noticeably buoyant, and with the hood, gloves, booties and suit, only your face is directly exposed to the outside elements. yes, you're wet. It;'s a wetsuit, but your body heats the bit of water that come into your suit pretty quickly. We'll see how i feel aobut all of this come December , January, and February. I'm learning that yes, even the meanest wave will let you go before you run out of breath. I'm learning that swell (noun) is swell (adj), and that wind can make or break a swell.
Curry
This stuff is great, especially if you fry up some meat or tofu, add coconut milk, vegetables, and pinea=pple.
I've now made 365 posts! So obviously if you read one per day for a year, it would take you a year to read everything I ever wrote on my blog. I doubt if anybody will EVER do that. My best and biggest fans (whoever that may be) would read a few at a time, and skip over many... or most.
Last but not least, I've finished the first Quarter without having to send anybody to the office. I've given out a fair share of detentions, made some parent phonecalls, perhaps some parent watch lists, but no ... well, I did break up one fight, and had to write a referral but that was something I stumbled into in the hallways. nobody has been booted from my class to the office yet. Let's hope it goes as well for Quarter 2.
