bAckwAsh and dreams 090514

Surf Report: Incoming SW swell 2-3 feet
Water: Bath water
Winds: side shore
Atmosphere: Cloudy

I woke up late. I woke up suuuuuuuper late snoozing, and felt terrible, since Matt, aka Donny Duckbutter, said he wanted to surf this Friday morning. I sent him a message saying that I just woke up and I'm getting ready so I'll see you there.

I arrive to 26th Street, and... there are waves!! but NO FRIGGIN PARKING. I circle around the lot twice, and nothing. So, I wait for a guy to change and relinquish his parking spot. He told me the water was super warm, so I don't even bother putting on my shortsuit. For all I know, Matt and Bri are already in the water. Ain't no one got time to put on a wetsuit!

Once I hit the sand, the High School kids get out. Perfect timing...? There is a lot of water moving, and I can tell that there is backwash. I haven't seen the Ocean do this in a long time. I paddle out and the current carries me further North.

I see Roy take off awkwardly and fall from the backwash. Same thing for Ross. If they're struggling... then what does that make me?

There was one notable ride this session. I read that the waves were better if they were small, since they would jack up and become decent rides on the inside. This one left looked like nothing, but I got to my feet, and pumped twice, cut back, pumped again, cut back, and rode it to the inside.

Other waves were bucking me off like a wild horse angry at getting a novice horse rider on its back.

It was only about an hour of surf before work, maybe less, but I had my fun.

Later on in the parking lot, I see Joyce, meet her friend Toru, and see Dais, Khang, and Peter. 

I talk to Matt later, and he said that he circled around for parking and couldn't find anything. He conceded to park at 45th Street, and he apologized for not making it to 26th Street. 45th Street was the same garbage backwash. I wanted to surf with him, but oh well.

That night, I had a dream of being back in Hawaii. I was driving down the Kamehameha Highway, passing by Sunset Beach, and see the late, great Andy Irons. I pull over and hop out. He casually says hi and we chat. The area flashes bright white, and we are at his friend's house with an older lady and two little girls running around. We talk about his disappearance and his absence in the world.

"Man, it was just like yesterday I watched you win the Tahiti event, and then you disappeared!" I told him.

"Brah, I didn't disappear," he answered with a smile.

"Maybe you killed yourself from the public eye," I told him.

"He disappeared so there weren't anymore girls to trouble him!" said the older lady.

"What were you doing at Sunset?" I asked him.

"It's a good spot to surf," he tells me.

"I thought you'd be at Pipe or Backdoor," I tell him."Or maybe V-land, it was so good today."

"I'm always here, wherever people want me to be," he tells me with a gleaming smile. 

I woke up from the dream, thinking what I had just heard. Yes, it is in my head, but does that make it not real? No, it doesn't. Whoever dies in this world, never truly is DEAD. They only die when they are forgotten.

And so those of us who have lost loved ones, they are always HERE, wherever people want them to be. In our hearts, in our minds, in our souls, in our daily lives, in our dreams. Wherever you want them to be, they will always be there.