lifes balance: If one is to take off on the wave of the day, one must expect to have a wipeout of the day, after the section of the day has brought itself down.
- last days in barra
And so here we are. My time surfing in Mexico is about to come to an end, and my departure on to new adventures - first up Palenque, Mexico - shall commence. Below, you shall find a wandering collection of words, written off the top of my head, from the smile on my face, from the love in my heart, about the days that have filled my time since Papa deaparted. I don´t know for how long it will run and flow, as it is just going to go, but I do hope you enjoy...
Making no grand departure from the norm, I spent the first week without miguel, and with my new old friend Jessie, surfing... and once Jake arrived, we continued with what we know best... surfing. Now it is here that I learnt a valuable lesson.
After surfing for so long in my mind I thought I would pretty much be awesome by now... what really happened is every day I seemed to get worse. That flow that I feel from riding a wave... was now more like a sporadic dribble. Aside from one wave of glory experienced somewhere there in the middle, it was a sad state of affairs. So I began the steps of getting back on track to full time awesomeness (note that this ´awesomeness´ is a state of my mind and in no way reflects my actual surfing as observed by anyone else... which is all that really counts).
First came the love and attention paid to my previously neglected board. Every little crack I could find (including the 5cm gouge that had been taking on water the last 2 months more than an Australian takes on beer at Octoberfest), was delicately fixed with a gentle hand. Every bit of wax that had caked on the bottom was scrapped off. A fresh, beautiful bumped wax job, was applied to my gleaming white (with parts tinged yellow) board.
Armed with this fresh piece of goodness I ascended onto the waves... With slight emprovement but not the kind I was hoping for, my second brain wave came upon me.
Next surf I switched fins and woowee it was like my board had been given a new life... But no instructions.
So then... I danced. I was sitting in the water, my brain pondering my predicament, when it occured to me that I had been moving my body in the exact same way for 2 months. It was not just sitting in front of a computer all day that could give your body this stiffness - but just too much of anything. Life is all about balance! So I danced my little heart out. When I got back to my Cabana that evening, all on my own, I put in my head phones, and with the concrete beneth my bare feet, danced the night away... But the transformation was not complete.
Again, sitting out in the water (you will notice a pattern appearing here), I had a shit head on. Thinking all the bad thoughts... anyways, it suddenly occured to me... I am free! I am not at a desk. I am in the land of tacos, chillin with my buddies and surfing as much as I want. And so I just sat and enjoyed the freedom of life. Within a minute I had scored the best wave in weeks and ever since I have been on the up... culmintating today with a well over head session.
As I waited and waited out the back for my turn at a good one, the last of the line dissappeared and as I watched the set approaching I knew it was going to be a good one. And as the grey wave grew darker as it rose under the light grey sky... I turned and went. All I got was a drop before the waves massive section unleashed itself upon me... and as I swirled around underwater, willing my leg rope not to snap, the damn thing undid. And so with the ocean rippin around me, I made the swim into shore... fun times. And whilst it might not seem like the ideal way to spend some time, I can tell you that that drop was one of the most fantastic things I have experienced all trip. It was only a few moments... but when you are living in the moment... you only need a few.
