Surfing

The Arabian sea - shimmering bright orange with the diffused reflection of the dusking sun, was way too tempting. With strong currents and offshore winds, It’s been an intense couple hours. Not much wave riding for all that paddling. Before we called it a day, I decided to paddle one last time past the frothy whites and onto the swells. For a few minutes, the water seemed super serene. Calm enough for me to visualize dolphins far in the distance. Folks who’d been here earlier in the morning had a good spotting and it would have been lovely to spot them now as the sun was slowly setting. And suddenly something didn’t seem that right. Another look at the water and I could see what I should have caught a few seconds before. Even before I could properly pop on the board, the swell quickly built momentum and yanked the board off my feet. Gravity, raw energy, power that looks so beautiful on the surface and all that connects these, unforgivingly engulfed me in their churn and royally spat me on the beach after a few seconds - though what felt like eternity. So much for that glorious sunset on the board! ...

After a muted attempt last year, we were able to ring in 2021 with an early morning Surfing class at Covelong. The girls loved it and I couldn’t have asked for a better start. Exhilarating, to say the least. And oh, salt water does BURN your eyes! Shasta enjoyed her time on the beach with her grand-parents. Dainty princess that she is, she apparently had her shoes on - for the whole two hours. Nevertheless she did enjoy the early breezy morning, watching us fall umpteen number of times. When asked later, she did mention she thought we were exercising. We’ll go with that! ...