A tale of woe begetting a 'fub and the subsequence relief of said woe. That, and surfing.

Today I only had to work a half day at work. That's because there were no instructors to do lessons. I hung around and did all my chores. I made various stabs at starting a fire - in the wood-burning stove of course, what do you take me for?! - for it was misting out and there was many a wetsuit to dry. I'd been at work for about 45 minutes, when I felt the familiar and expected urge to relieve my liquids. No problem! Easily taken care of. Raph and his family may be GONE, but they left me with a key (or at least told me where to find the key)to get into their home to use the bathroom. So I expectantly put my hand where the key was supposed to be. It was...not there. I looked, immediately harried, all around me. no sign of any key. Ok...I thought. Well, that sucks. But what can I do? I have stuff to do. There's no one I can call. maybe, if I don't drink any water, it won't be so bad! So back to work I go. 

Needless to say, I went back to the porch many times in greater and greater states of desperation. After about 3-4 hours in I had gotten way past the point of respect for someone else's home. I was standing feverishly jamming my bobby pin into the lock. Of every door I found. I've never learnt the art of jimmying a lock, so I don't think I need to inform anyone that this was unsuccessful. (I should add right about now that by this point it was not just #1 clamouring for a way out. I'm sorry, but this piece of information is a vital part of the over-all feel of the story). Anyway. I had already circled the house like a vulture, trying to find a way in. Even a window. About my 3rd time checking a back door, I finally spotted a key. I GRABBED it and deliriously shoved it in the lock. It turned! I had that door open and was through the room and on the toilet in 3, maybe 5 seconds. Ah the euphoria. Honestly, it was almost worth the whole episode of torture. 

Ok, on to surfing. I went surfing yesterday. me and Shawn brought some boards home with us from my work. I am going to be perfectly honest. I was resisting. RESISTING RESISTING RESISTING. One can get into the habit of resisting all of life's new experiences. And that's just fine. There is nothing wrong with that. Because you'll only do it for as long as you want to. Sooner or later, life must be lived.  But only once you decide it is more worth it than being safe. That may not have been what was running through my mind word-for-word, but it was the jist of the idea. 

Then there was this girl, who kept popping into my head. Well, she popped into my head once, and then I kept calling her back there for reassurance. She's from Germany I think, and she had rented from us for a few days in a row. I saw her yesterday dropping off the gear she rented. Her cheeks were flushed. Her eyes were bright. There was palpable health and radiance coming off of her. THAT is what I want. So I just kept replacing my image of fear with the image of her. and then making her me. It worked. I managed to get into my suit and into the truck. I was remembering bits and pieces of how I used to feel when I was younger and much more fearless (in certain ways). I would feel excited and eager. And then, in the truck on the way, it came over me in a wave: excitement for good times. 

Anyways, I'm making this into much more of an epic tale than it was. To make a long story shorter, I paddled out past the white wash for the first time since that errant head-high wave pummelled me a year and a half ago. The surf was gentle. I lay on my board and bobbed on the swells. Felt the in-and-out breath of the sea. I kept on getting afraid, (remembering the unpredictable sea of that pummelling wave of yesteryear) and calming myself down. The sea was much, much calmer. There were only beginners out in it. The other beginners gave me confidence.

We'd probably been lying there for 45 minutes before I said I wanted to catch something. The sets of surfable waves were about 15 minutes apart, and it was the 3rd or 4th set...fubman paddled with me, as per my request. We caught the wave together. I got up into a crouch, and watched the water rushing past, and the pearling foam around my board. It was fun! But it was so short. I got up, crouched, and jumped off, basically. 

Well, that's all Imma write about for now.