A break from the cancer stuff - Surf!

And this was the happy thing I was waiting to post. No, it's nothing like a sparkly brand new boyfriend or anything, it's just that I went surfing again after two and a half years, and got a feel for the ocean again.

The pro surfers were really helpful, the waves were mostly very mellow (sand bar, white water, breaking far out, perfectly clear to the bottom and a nice 70 degrees,) and I started to get past my fear again. Once in a while it would come back--like, for instance, when the big waves started to come in once in a while--and I'd bail out of the water for a while. Just sort of backing away, holding the huge pink surfboard at my side like a talisman, looking at the water like, "okay, now quit it." And then I would tell myself not to be a dork, and paddle out again.

I caught three good waves. And, just like in Waikiki, I had no problem standing up and balancing for as long as I had to. A lot of people couldn't stand up, but to me, that's the easy part. The hard part is paddling fast enough to catch the wave. Especially since my arms still didn't work after yesterday's Kung Fu.

And of course I beat myself up pretty badly. The first time I caught the wave, I realized it was time to get off the board because you're not supposed to ride it into the sand. I just misjudged the depth of the water; I thought it was a lot deeper than it was and I let myself drop off backwards like I always see the surfers do, except that there was very little water beneath me and I landed on my assbone so jarringly hard that I felt the crunch all the way to my teeth. My butt is all purple now. The second time, once again I couldn't figure out how best to get off the board, so I just jumped. I landed on the side of my foot and twisted my ankle under me. My first thought was that I had locked out my knee the same awful way I did eleven years ago at the ocean, but then I realized that my knee was all right but my ankle was turned pretty badly. My whole calf muscle is like a line of pain.

But it was still loads of fun! If I could just get to a point where I could paddle faster, and then figure out how the hell to land, I might be pretty decent at this stuff. Oh, but I did wipe out a few times, too. I made the mistake I used to make on the body board if I got out of practice, of being forward too much and not keeping my chest off the board. Dude, that just rolls you forward, board over feet.

But the best thing is the long-forgotten feel of salt water in my hair, the taste of it everywhere and how good it makes your skin feel after you're out of the ocean. Makes you feel so healthy. If only I could walk, though. ;)

( The surfers were nice enough to take a picture of me with the big, phallic surfboard. ^_^  )

( Self portrait, my reflection in my car window, looking just a bit Molly Kolodny with the glasses only mine aren't inset. )

And that's that.

A break from the cancer stuff - Surf!

And this was the happy thing I was waiting to post. No, it's nothing like a sparkly brand new boyfriend or anything, it's just that I went surfing again after two and a half years, and got a feel for the ocean again.

The pro surfers were really helpful, the waves were mostly very mellow (sand bar, white water, breaking far out, perfectly clear to the bottom and a nice 70 degrees,) and I started to get past my fear again. Once in a while it would come back--like, for instance, when the big waves started to come in once in a while--and I'd bail out of the water for a while. Just sort of backing away, holding the huge pink surfboard at my side like a talisman, looking at the water like, "okay, now quit it." And then I would tell myself not to be a dork, and paddle out again.

I caught three good waves. And, just like in Waikiki, I had no problem standing up and balancing for as long as I had to. A lot of people couldn't stand up, but to me, that's the easy part. The hard part is paddling fast enough to catch the wave. Especially since my arms still didn't work after yesterday's Kung Fu.

And of course I beat myself up pretty badly. The first time I caught the wave, I realized it was time to get off the board because you're not supposed to ride it into the sand. I just misjudged the depth of the water; I thought it was a lot deeper than it was and I let myself drop off backwards like I always see the surfers do, except that there was very little water beneath me and I landed on my assbone so jarringly hard that I felt the crunch all the way to my teeth. My butt is all purple now. The second time, once again I couldn't figure out how best to get off the board, so I just jumped. I landed on the side of my foot and twisted my ankle under me. My first thought was that I had locked out my knee the same awful way I did eleven years ago at the ocean, but then I realized that my knee was all right but my ankle was turned pretty badly. My whole calf muscle is like a line of pain.

But it was still loads of fun! If I could just get to a point where I could paddle faster, and then figure out how the hell to land, I might be pretty decent at this stuff. Oh, but I did wipe out a few times, too. I made the mistake I used to make on the body board if I got out of practice, of being forward too much and not keeping my chest off the board. Dude, that just rolls you forward, board over feet.

But the best thing is the long-forgotten feel of salt water in my hair, the taste of it everywhere and how good it makes your skin feel after you're out of the ocean. Makes you feel so healthy. If only I could walk, though. ;)

( The surfers were nice enough to take a picture of me with the big, phallic surfboard. ^_^  )

( Self portrait, my reflection in my car window, looking just a bit Molly Kolodny with the glasses only mine aren't inset. )

And that's that.