El Meezy Would Go

Do you still get that feeling? The one where you're so excited to get to the break that the almost nervous energy is palpable. You can keep yourself from hyperventilating a little but you have to think about it. That was me, this evening.

I sometimes stash my board at work and run to The Local if it's working. While a lot of my sessions are dawn patrols, my actual favorite time of the day to surf is just before dusk. The sun starts dipping in the sky and if you're lucky, it's completely clear and you watch the sky change colors. Beautiful hues of orange, purple and red and you're out in the water. Sometime I stay out just to the point where I almost can't see what's coming at me, because at that moment, I'm in church and my mind is clear.

When I got to The Local, there wasn't a soul in the water. Not a soul, because it was windy and there wasn't much going on in the way of waves. I told myself that it looked like there was a peak down by "The Bath House". Pity that the company doing work on the causeway has once again closed that section of parking as they drag out that state contract as long as they can because maybe then I could have just parked down that end of the beach and seen if there was an actual peak. However, maybe I would have decided it wasn't worth it and turned around and left. If I did that, I wouldn't have made the long walk down towards that end and I would have missed how the wind was blowing hard enough to make the dry sand blow across the damp, packed stuff in tendrils that reminded me of images in Lawrence of Arabia. I wouldn't have had the place all to myself. I wouldn't have caught that one right that peeled properly because the wind slacked at the right time and I wouldn't have taken the opportunity to paddle back to the parking lot and really pay attention to how I moved through the water.

You see, sometimes it's not just about getting out there when it's pumping or even reasonably "good". Sometimes, you just have to go.