Surf City

Last spring, I was in San Diego for one of Andrew's tennis tournaments (La Jolla, to be exact, which is where I spent summers as a kid visiting my maternal grandmother) and before heading back to the IE spent some time sitting on a rock watching a pod (would that be a proper use of the word??) of surfers. For the first time in my life, I was actually struck with a desire to surf. I have friends who surf, and for some of them, the activity takes on an almost spiritual quality. Why, after 5 decades on earth this urge suddenly kicked in, I cannot explain. Regardless, here it is.

So now that my 6-week summer break is here, I figure it's now or never. Bought a book about surfing and began reading it while spending a couple days on Catalina last week. About 50 pages into it, began to realize that grabbing a surfboard and paddling out into the ocean--as a virgin--would be sort of like saying "I want to become a race car driver", renting a race car, getting out on the track and immediately shifting into 200 mph. As I read, it became apparent there are some pretty important equipment, sea conditions, safety and surfer etiquette/protocol issues to consider--not to mention the actual skills and techniques one like myself will need to acquire. (This might seem extremely obvious to most people; however, as I sat on that rock above the La Jolla shore, what I saw was this group of surfers laying on their stomachs on their boards--not many waves--at one with the ocean--such a peaceful, alluring picture. Let's just say I'm glad I had enough sense to at least pick up a book before I ended up killing myself--or someone else!)

One of my surfer friends, Terry, told me he would show me the ropes, and I could join him next time he hits the waves. Earlier this week, another friend threw out the idea of a "surf camp", which had not even crossed my mind. About 30 minutes ago, I got off the phone with Souf from San Diego Surf School, located in Pacific Beach (just a few short blocks from where Gratia, my grandmother used to live). I am signed up for a week-long Adult Surf Camp which begins this Monday. He said sometimes the camp can have as many as 10 people, but next week there will be fewer than 5, so it will almost be like getting semi-private lessons--$250 purchases the lessons (two hours each day), wet suit and board rental. I am about as giddy with excitement as I was when I first started learning to play tennis in middle school--or when my first "live" radio broadcast on KUOR debuted during my junior year at the U of R. Perhaps needless to say, more to come as the summer races toward fall . . . .