a poem I wrote

[oldmansurfer]

I'm not sure if I shared this here but wrote this a while ago

The ever changing flow of the script of my life

It comes and goes like the tide

The only constant is the ocean

always there

always wet

always some waves to catch

some water to paddle around in

The ocean cares not about me

It doesn't need me or hate me

or love me or desire me

The ocean never cares if I am happy sad or angry

It's just there, salty wetness

willing to hold me in it's moist embrace

massaging me in it's pounding foam

bringing me solace out of nothing but water

It can heal or hurt me

take my life or give it back to me

but mostly it washes me

cleans my body and mind

leaving me feeling new

[BoMan]

Your poem reminds me of a line from Chasing Mavericks....

Frosty Hesson : We all come from the sea, but we are not all of the sea. Those of us who are, we children of the tides, must return to it again and again, until the day we don't come back leaving behind only that which was touched along the way.

[oldmansurfer]

Here are some thoughts I wrote about what I like about surfing from a while back but still applies today.

The first thing about surfing is the therapeutic aspect of it. You go out surfing and sometimes your problems will follow you out but sooner or later they will go away and it will be just you and the ocean. I am sure all surfers know this feeling. It's almost like meditating but instead of sitting around somewhere folded up like a pretzel you are interacting with the ocean. I always feel more positive about things after surfing.

Next thing I like about surfing is getting tubed. The deeper the better but unfortunately I haven't been tubed very deeply since I started surfing again. There are probably several reason for that. Main thing is probably the board I am using is a long board design and more difficult to get tubed than other previous boards. Another thing is I am not in as good shape and am not as skilled as I once was (old fut). Another thing is the waves I am surfing. I used to go look around for waves but in my busy life I don't have time to do that so I just go to Wailua beach and surf whatever there. Since I started surfing again I have had some back slaps where the lip hits my back a little and had the lip come down next to me leaving the tip of my board still out of the tube but no deep in the green room tubes. Still I enjoyed the little tubes I have gotten into. I used to also enjoy getting tubed and coming out with my hair still dry. I can't really do that anymore since I dunk myself first thing when I get to the beach to cool down my sunscreen and keep it from running into my eyes with my sweat.

I enjoy doing turns. I especially like ones that spray water everywhere. Long ago one of my favorite things was to crank a hard cutback and then turn back again quickly enough to ride through the spray kicked up by my previous turn. First time I did it I couldn't believe I did that. I guess time slows down for you when you surf so it seems like a long time for that spray to be hanging around waiting for you to ride through it. I can't really do that much although recently out of shape and long board and everything I did manage to get some spray across my shins on a couple of turns I did, it was nothing like the face wash I got long ago. I haven't got front side bottom turns down but back side I go all or nothing so I make some major backside off the lips (or wipe out).

I also enjoy learning some new maneuver. I still do that once in a while. Recently I was surfing and made a bottom turn, hit the lip and it kind or crumbled under the board and I kept going along the top of the wave with the wave crumbling below the board so I didn't move and waited to see what would happen. I cruised along like that as it got steeper under the board till finally the nose of the board fell back down the face of the wave and I made a bottom turn and a cutback. It probably wasn't much to look at but it was fun for me.

One other thing I enjoy about surfing and this doesn't really require a board but because I am there it happens....I love being smacked by the wave. I like the feeling of getting a good smack from a smaller to medium sized wave or taking a little pounding on a wipe out or going out through the break. It's like a massage. It's a lot of force but it's water it kind of pushes everything around a bit but not too much. I also enjoy sitting in the beach break and getting pounded by the waves as they come in and sometimes cool down in shore break a while when I come in for the day.

I also enjoy the adrenalin rush you get from surfing. It's different for every surfer but I enjoy taking a steep drop on a wave. Your body does these almost instantaneous adjustments as you drop down. It's almost like you are just a passenger on a vehicle, you have no control and hope that it will all end ok. I still get out in waves big enough to give me a rush and in fact much smaller waves can give me a rush these days because I am not in as good shape as I used to be and not feeling as indestructible as I used to. I have been out in waves 3 times my height since I started surfing again but even if it is just overhead I can get a little rush.

I was using a 9'6" longboard when I wrote this 11 years ago (57 years old)