Tuesday, August 17, 2010

A hint of paradise

In a flash of inspiration I connected my phone to the internet. With shaking fingers, I managed to direct the browser to wind guru, and then waited with baited breath for the detailed weather forecast. Would the swell have found its way into the bay or was today to be like any other; sweating my brain on the salt mine fronted by my laptop?

The phone enhanced graphics slowly materialised on my screen. Images of wind and good swell beamed at me in multicoloured hues. Surfing was on!

A gentle crack of the whip and my children were seated in the car, patiently waiting for me to load my surfing paraphernalia. They did not have to wait long! I remembered to open the garage door before blasting off on the well worn school route. With the kids offloaded at school, I pointed my mother ship at the beach and imagined nirvana! Waves rolling down the beach, walling and barrelling, the joy at being swept up in the waves embrace, and the exhilaration of a tight top turn.

The car had almost stopped before I was out and racing across the dunes to match reality to my imagined paradise. In a spray of beach sand, I was suddenly motionless! There were surfers in the line up but nobody had invited the waves to the party. I took a calming breath and surveyed the barely pulsating sea, hoping against hope that the next set would bring what I was looking for.

Instead the sun lifted its head over the mountains and bathed the beach in beautiful early morning light. I felt the sea sand between my toes, damp and squishy. I closed my eyes and breathed deeply of the fresh sea air and with a big roundhouse cutback, finished off my last imaginary wave.

Invigorated, I walked back to my car. At least today, I had made the effort to be here, and for today, that was enough!

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