Surfing lesson #2: remember...it’s fun!

That’s my Ole on top; the board in back
is the little soft top I borrowed from the brewery. 

I got my very own surfboard!  It’s a 9’ 2” classic long board, made by Bob “Ole” Olson, a local shaper who was recently inducted into the International Surfboard Builder’s Hall of Fame.  The board is twenty years old and a little beat up, but still a beauty.  After I gave her a fresh coat of wax,  Dave and I met our friends Renee and Ryan at the beach with their little girl, Lena.  She’s a total cutie and spent a good bit of time pulling me around the shallow kiddie pond on a boogie board.  The moms were standing around pulling their kids and asking me how I got the kid to pull me.  I just did what the little girl asked me to do.  Good times....  


What I have learned so far:  Surfing is really hard, I need to do lots more pushups (starting with one pushup, maybe), and it’s a lot more fun with a good board and reasonably small waves.  I went out last week in surf that was a bit bigger than I expected, using the little foam board pictured at the right, and I got pummeled.  Today’s tiny waves were a little harder to catch, but I did manage to stand up for about four seconds and I caught a few more on my belly.  Beginner’s mind, for real. 


It was also a lot of fun to have Renee out there, five-ish months pregnant, floating around on her stand-up board, giving me pointers and cheering me on.  Dave provided moral support from the beach and later went out with Ryan to catch a few waves in the more crowded surf.  We had a great time hanging out with new friends and spending Sunday relaxing in the shade of the palm trees.   Dave and I like each other and all, but it’s nice to have friends around to keep things interesting. 

Fresh wax!

It’s going to be great to see some family members soon.  Matt and Corinne arrive on Friday for a visit and Dave’s dad will be joining us on November 1.  Hooray!  We miss our people and the East Coast more than folks might think.  Dave was so starved for Vermont that he stuck his finger under the spout of the maple syrup bin in the bulk foods aisle at the market yesterday.  Luckily, his dad sent a beautiful card with a Vermont photo on the front and some autumn leaves inside!  We were so excited, we spent some time sniffing them to see if we could smell the woods.  Uh...yes, we are a little nuts.  Why do you ask?


This begins week two of fall break and I am finally ready for some adventures.  Last week I did some canoeing and yoga, cleaned the house, worked (yes, worked) a bit, and spent a lot of time preparing healthy raw veggies.  It was super mellow and much-needed down time for my brain.  I’m excited for week two because I am already relaxed and so now I can get out there and have some more fun!

Kiddie pond at Launiupoko

My friend Cori returns from Amsterdam tomorrow and it looks like there will be some camping, hiking, and waterfalls in our futures.  We are going to go camping on the Hana side (where I spent my birthday) for a few days and do some exploring.  I’m sure there will be more canoeing and surfing in store, as well.  It’s going to be really really REALLY hard to go back to work next week, but it’s too soon to think about that right now.  I’m loving Sundays without teacher planning anxiety, maybe a little too much.  Happy autumn, everyone!


Aloha!
Jen