Surfing

“As we were paddling out there.. I see my friend yell something to me.. and I can feel like I'm almost vertical.. and all of a sudden.. CRASH!!! I held onto the board thinking it would pull me to the surface.. meanwhile I got thrashed around like there was no tomorrow.. when I finally got to the surface I didn't know which way to go.. just then another wave came and again.. I'm beat down.. frantically I'm just trying to get up on the surf board.. hoping the wave would push me to shore.. or at least I can stay afloat.. [...] the shore looked so far away, and soon it was tough just trying to stay afloat.. much less do anything. All the frantic movements and the raced breathing.. I had no energy.. [...] I could barely walk.. my body was jelly.. I kept falling from the dents in the sand..”

“I knew that I was going to wear a wetsuit that would keep me warm in the cold sea, but there was one tiny detail that I never thought of until I actually entered the water. The wetsuit does not cover your feet! I swear the first 10 minutes in the water were awful; I thought that I would lose any of my feet right there. I’m really sensitive to the cold, so you can imagine how I felt. The good news is that after a while you forget how cold you are and start to focus more on not falling off the board and on being able to stand up during your first surfing session.”

“I experienced the stern reprimands of more experienced surfers when I accidentally dropped in on them, learning a thing or two about etiquette and board control. I experienced towering frustration as stronger surfers snaked my waves knowing I was tentative in the lineup. I got held under on a particularly cold January day, and panicked as my leash wrapped around my neck. For the first months I surfed, I did nothing but pearl.”