Time Warp

This is a place to record the moments of days I want to remember, mostly about surfing. But, I feel the need to record some other things. So, if you are reading this, and you only want surfing related moments, move on for now.

A lot has been happening since I arrived back to the land of flat. Within five minutes of my flight landing in Jacksonville, my son, Colby, arrived with his girlfriend, Katie, on another one in the same airport. Since then, it has been a whirlwind of things, surf lessons, meals together, movies. You get the idea. Good times.

I want to try to remember and highlight them here. If I don't, they may become lost. Like when someone says... remember when that crazy... and you go: OH, I FORGOT ABOUT THAT!

I don't want to forget.

When I saw them coming toward me, I dropped my bags. How great is that first moment, seeing your son walking towards you, smiling, and to hug him again after seven months? I wish everyone could feel that, at least once. Then we couldn't find my car. I knew I had parked in section N, but the level ... I had completely forgotten. It occurred to me that this would be a test of Katie's patience. She made jokes as I pressed the panic button, and we tried to figure out what level the little white Prius was on. She would call out: BEEP BEEP BEEP! And there we would be, dragging luggage up and down parking garage ramps. That's a pretty good gauge of someone's mettle. Katie passed.

Colby gave her her first surf lesson the next day, and she got an A on that. The waves were small enough, of course, good for beginners. She loved it. She nearly stood up that first day, on a board Bruce let us use because he was working the concession stand in the state park. It was the perfect board. Thanks, Bruce! That gave Katie a great first experience. It might not have been as good on my smaller 6'10" fiberglass board as on that soft top 8'0".

Colby didn't even recognize Bruce when he first saw him, Bruce has lost that much weight. "What happened to Bruce? It's like the new ZEN Bruce!" Colby said.

My brother showed up the next day, and we took my nephew surfing for the first time in his life on that same board, thanks again to Bruce. I told my brother that Bruce and Karen saved me after my divorce. They have done so very much for me, and in so many ways. "Really?" he asked, genuinely absorbing that statement. "Really," I said.

Declan is not a very coordinated child, but for some reason his strokes on that surfboard looked seasoned. "Dad!" he yelped, grinning from ear to ear after a good one, "Why didn't you ever tell me how much fun surfing was?" Bill and I laughed, watching him nearly stand up. He jumped up out of the water, smiling, looking back at us to see if we had seen it. We were giving him the thumbs up, and I don't recall ever seeing him or his dad ever look so happy.

The next day, the tide was different, the swell crashing a bit on the shore, and it was not as good an experience for either of them. The water had turned a brownish hue and gotten colder. I wasn't there for this, but Katie was apparently called out by another beginner for paddling around her, and the girl subsequently nose dived twice is front of Katie. Karma, you know, gets you every time. Declan got spooked by the "big waves," and retreated to the body board.

We all had so much fun watching Tim and Eric's Awesome Show. Then, Bill and Declan had to go back to Tampa. It was over, just like that.

That next evening, something really cool happened. Sean had asked Colby, Katie, and I over for dinner, yummy, and we were just starting to play a game of Balderdash after eating, when there came a knock at the door.

A voice was singing "A man's gotta do, what a man's gotta do!" (Dr. Horrible's Sing-a-long-blog)

I sat transfixed. I could not see around the wall where that familiar voice was coming from. Nothing was making sense. That sounded just like...

My mouth dropped open. It was, it really was... JOE!

"What the hell... what are YOU doing here???" I managed to say it, but it all seemed like a dream. Joe lives in New Jersey, you see. He was just here on vacation, and... well. WTH?

He was grinning the biggest grin, and so was I. He yelled "SURPRISE!" and we were all like a bunch of puppies, hugging again.

Get this. He had gotten off work in New Jersey at 11:30pm and then jumped in his car and driven straight through to Florida. This was not lost on me. No sleep, what, and driving something like 17 hours? I WANTED TO STRANGLE HIM! HE COULD HAVE BEEN KILLED.

But, more than that, I wanted to hug him. Because for someone to do that, to want to be with his family (his mom had just been in the hospital) and friends enough to do that... well, that's something that just endears you to someone forever.

There have been some fine days, lately. They may not involve any decent surfing, but they have been fine, indeed.

There is hope on the horizon for surfing, though. Everyone is predicting waves beginning as early as tomorrow.

Oh, and, Andy's back from Hermosa. He caught that entire New Zealand swell. He didn't paddle out with me yesterday morning. It hasn't been long enough for him, yet. I surfed with Steve Borema, in little one to two foot peelers, and we had a good talk about Costa Rica, and how he had lived there and gone to college in San Jose.

Bob is getting edgy. He may snap at any moment if we don't get waves. The Mananzas sandbar has disappeared. This is not good for his sanity. Karen is hanging in. She says she is, anyway. We need to all go on a surf trip together, and we will!

So, that's all the snippets for now. The day is just beginning. Memories await.