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| The photographer wouldn't wait for me to shower and apply make-up so this is what you get!!! | | |
I grew up on southern California so surfing and the beach were a part of my life. I used to dream of being able to ride the waves, so as I sat and wrote my "list" of things to do surfing came to mind...and then immediately left it-who the hell trys to surf for the first time at the age of 50? Well, that would be me, I mean how hard could it be, right? As many of you know a great part of the activities on my "list" coincided with my/our trip to Hawaii last year. Renewing our vows was the prime activity with several others thrown in-surfing for sure was to be done in Hawaii; the Oregon coast is just not meant for anything other than a peaceful walk along the beach in my mind, so Hawaii was the natural place. Not only was I excited about the surfing experience but so were the rest of my family, Katie, Ryan, Brandon and Bill. Ryan, Brandon and Katie were especially excited.
The day of the lesson; drive to the beach and find it's directly behind a beautiful hotel with a grassy area and a bar-that would be for later! We meet up with the instructor and his crew and start off with our lesson on "land," surfboards planted in the sand , chaffing shirts on. It's time to learn how to paddle; line ourselves up with the waves, push off and then hopefully stand up and ride the wave. Introductions included names but both instructors just called me "mom" or "mama," can't say that I minded that a bit! OK, lay on the boards, pretend to paddle....Hey, wait one effing minute...how come the board is so wide? It's a beginner board-that means trouble for me since my arms are the same length as a 4 year olds-not much of a wing span at all-how the hell am I going to paddle??? Well, I just had to figure it out if I was going to be able to get out to where they caught the waves. While laying on the board the instructor makes us simulate paddling, he talks us through the beginning of the set, wait for the wave he tells me, then when I say "paddle" you start paddling and don't stop...once you catch the wave I will push you, then you need to paddle, paddle, paddle and then just stand up...huh, OK. So on dry land it's pretty easy, spring up on all fours, and then pull yourself up to a standing position-yep, I think I can do this! Now we are all ready, carry the big ass boards to the water to practice-so much easier to lay on the board and stand up while it's planted in the sand-in the water, not so much. After proving we can all stand up on the board we head out to the area where the waves are breaking-far, far away from the beach, I wasn't even sure I could make it out that far-my wings were getting a workout like never before! As we head out the main instructor tells the other, "you stay with Mama so she gets a good ride"...wow, now that's attention. On the way out he reminds me the most important thing to remember after I ride the wave in is to paddle to the side, otherwise I will have all the other surfers and their boards on top of me-Holy Shit, the "side" is a long way, a moment of panic fills me as I am struggling just to get to the breaking point. Thank God, the guy took a liking to me and helped me by pushing me as he paddled, it was that little extra oomph that I needed. We finally get out to the breaking point, the instructors decided Katie would be the first to push off-the wave comes, the guy pushes Katie off, she paddles, stands up, and rides the wave all the way in like she had been doing it all her life-beautiful! Then it was my turn, waiting..."here it comes Mama, are you ready?" Yep, I start paddling and by the time he pushes me off I've almost found my footing and stand up; hot damn, I thought to myself-I'm actually surfing, it was one of the most exciting moments in my life. But it only took a minute for me to realize the longer I stood up, the closer I rode to the shore, which meant the further I would have to paddle in order to get back out. Once I fell I realized I need to begin paddling to the side in order to avoid getting in the way of the others coming my way-once to the side I paddled back out and hooked up with my instructor, he was pretty amazed that I got up the first time-No kidding, I thought, me too!! Second trip in I got smart, only go to my knees, that way falling off doesn't hurt so bad and oh, fall off before I get to far in so I don't' have to paddle all the way out...that works too! A couple more rides, some time spent watching the others and then my final ride. I had a plan this time, ride it in as far as I could to the shore-I made it all the way to the shallows. Ryan decides to go out with the instructor again-I'm not sure how he found the strength after the first few hours but he did and looked like a pro the whole time! Some time on the beach and then a stop at the beach-side bar, we had a few drinks with the instructors and met some great people. This day will live in my memory as one of the best days of my life; the beach, time with family and conquering a sport (if only for a little while) that I never thought I'd be able to attempt, much less be able to try. I'm blessed beyond words.
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| Ryan coming in after his lesson |
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