The last few days have been a challenge. It all started somewhere last week, and it just keeps happening. Let me explain. Days and days of onshore winds have really taken its toll on those among us who are dependent upon surfing for whatever sanity we possess. So, when the vice-principal asked me to substitute again this past Friday, I wasn't feeling as up for the challenge as that last time. But, this time I went into it with experience, and took charge, only easing up when I had their attention. It was hard not to laugh for most of the day. It ended up so much better this time, and third grade seems to be my new favorite.
Just the day before, I had gone over to my former landlord's house to get instructions for my weekend challenge: house-dog-sitting for the weekend. Okay, they told me it was five dogs, but once I got there, it became five dogs, five cats, and two birds. That night I had the most vivid nightmare about opening the door to the room the cats were in, and seeing this giant spider in a huge spiderweb. I closed the door in terror, and when I re-opened it a crack, the thing had jumped out of the web and was advancing toward the door, along a countertop at eye level. I didn't get much sleep that night.
The first night there, after feeding them all, I settled in on the couch. All the dogs jumped up there with me. It was kind of cute at first, all of them looking at me with doe-eyed adoration. But, after a few minutes, I had a flashback to my days of being the oldest sibling of four. One growled at the other, and before I could do anything, it was a full-on dogfight all over the couch. I put my substitute teacher face on and said, "BREAK IT UP! DAISY, ROXY, EMMETT, LUCY, AND LITTLE BROWN DOG ... STOP!" They froze, and I took them outside to work it out.
I thought it was a pretty good night after that. I locked them up in the kitchen where they sleep on their assorted little beds, and didn't hear a peep until Archy, the cat, woke me up at 5 am meowing. It sure would have been nice to have some waves worth dawn patrolling for.
The next night was bad. At 1 am, Archy sprung everyone from their prison, must have jumped over the gate and unhitched it, and they all ran up the stairs and straight for my room, barking like it was the end of the world. Substitute teacher mode again got them all rounded up, and back into their corral. Then, it was another wake up call at 5am. THAT CAT!
Still no waves worth getting up for.
So, I decided to go for a bike ride. You really should listen to that little voice that seems to be telling you not to do something. It seemed that everything I did to prepare for the ride was met with resistance. When my I-Pod began challenging me, I felt my blood pressure rising. I must have pushed some button that denies you access to any type of control. It was just one annoying thing after the next, and I recall thinking that maybe something was telling me not to ride today.
But I went. At the two mile point, I heard a noise. It sounded like my front wheel was hitting the computer sensor, but when I tried to fix it, nothing worked. Arrrgggh! I decided to just turn around and go home before I did some serious damage to something. At that point, I realized I had a rear flat. Arrggggh! I knew I would never be able to get that tire off the rim (Bontrager Hardcase, I hate you), and I was not in the mood to even attempt it, at that point. I decided to just push it the two miles home. I could see the lighthouse in the distance, and it looked twenty miles away at that moment. Maybe I would find some money on the way, like Karen did that day, I thought happily. Yes, it has come to this. Maybe I will meet up with someone I normally wouldn't, I thought. Maybe there is a reason why this happened. I got all the way to Surf Station and saw two guys standing outside, looking my way. It was Andy and Mark! They were getting some fins for the Andy's new Placebo, and I told them my story. Andy, the spot on mechanic that he is, spotted the problem right away. A huge staple was embedded in my rear tire. So, THAT was what was making the noise! Why I hadn't thought to look at the rear tire remains a mystery. The noise sounded like it was coming from the front. DOH!
We all decided to just go surfing. Even though it was crap, we all were going insane, had new boards, and if we didn't get in the water soon ... it was going to get ugly. I thought about the dogfight on the couch last night. We decided to meet at tenth street. No use driving miles and miles to Mantanzas for a slightly better grade of crap.
Once there, it looked dismal at the end of that boardwalk. We talked about going to the Gulf, to ride the waves from Ida, but it seemed the wind was going to mess that up, too. So, we grabbed our boards and paddled out. The water is down to 71 degrees, but we skinned it.
The Dominator felt good paddling out. It was definitely not as easy to duck-dive, but felt like it was going to catch waves easily enough. The waves were choppy, pure crap closeouts, but two waves were enough to tell me that I am going to love this board. It felt so loose and lively, but not like it would spin out. It felt like it would go anywhere I wanted, and fast. I only wish the waves had been better on my first go out on the thing.
When I got back to the zoo house, there was a message on my phone from Andy. He had just listened to the forecast. They are calling for building seas and offshore west winds on Wednesday. I have off on Wednesday ... what? Okay, that's just too much of a stretch. Check back, you'll see.
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