Turn On It, Tune Out, Drop In

Forecast? More of the same...
SW WIND 20 TO 25 KT. GUSTS UP TO 30 KT. WIND WAVES 6 FT...SUBSIDING TO 4 FT. W SWELL 16 FT AT 13 SECONDS. SHOWERS BEFORE DARK. ISOLATED TSTMS IN THE EVENING. SHOWERS LIKELY.

However...
It is more in how you look at things...
And here's one man's view ...
On Surf in Oregon...
It wasn't me out there, but...
I like it.
 
Somebody might have seen me, and asked themselves "What the hell is that guy doing out there?"

I will tell you.

See, I'm a pioneer. And I'm also doing a public service.

I'm resetting the margins, I'm re-calibrating the scale. I'm redefining the language... just what is a "wave" anyway?

People talk about conditions, they paint with broad strokes. Is there a ceiling, how good can it get? Is there a zero point? Can it get any worse? I'm here to help define the construct of surfing. Is it skilled activity in a challenging environment? Is it experiential? How much is internal, how much is external?

In the wind, in the rain, in the cold... symbols lose their value. What is swell, what is a wind-wave, what is fetch? My focus is on not aspirating the untreated water. We're just splitting hairs, after all. When the wind flips your board up into your frozen lips and chin, does it really matter if it's a Surftech? The aqueous environment will dictate the move. This where surfing becomes reactive, not proactive. Words like "left" and "right" lose their meaning. The surfer closest to the peak is the one buried in whitewater. Wooden hands scratch without purchase, the wind moves us sideways, the current carries us where it will. The Tao, flowing, fight not the current, re-align your chi flow. A pit drops, there is a respite, "from chaos comes order". If William S Burroughs could script your surf session, this is what it would be.

How many hollow oaths will you swear? "I'll never drink again". Of course you will. Like I told the other garbage men in the water... if nothing else we have proven something to ourselves: we'll surf anything. There is no wave beyond salvation, the right hands will create art from refuse.

What was I doing out there? Redefining the scope of my surfing experience.

Did the waves suck? Sure, but having a few laughs with friends can't be beat.