What to Do in Closed Out Waves

Aloha Tribe,

On days when it's Closed Out, and the Peak breaks all along the wave at once, most of us look at it, assuming we even went to the beach that day, sigh, and promptly leave. What with computers today, some of us don't even bother to head to the beach. It saddens me for the old days. Yet, I wonder, if or when we do simply leave or not bother even going, how many of us have momentarily lost touch with our inner child, that spirit within us who remembers our first ride, who embraces the whole reason we got into surfing in the first place. It's so easy, in today's modern world, to become complacent.


The thing is, in the wilds where I live, if I  lived that way, that is, not hitting the swells on "lousy days", I'd end up never being able to surf. So, what I've found helps me at least is to  love what I do have, when I  have it, where I am,, and, simply learn to do whatever it is you can in such conditions, be it Closed Out waves, too strong of wind, whipping flesh tearing rain, sleet, blinding snow, hail, or even, during the Flats. The truly awesome thing is, we can all do this.

The surf is loaded with opportunities for play and experimentation and study and simply learning. And, personally, as a Watergirl, it's my job to learn it all. I was told by my surf and Watergirl Mentor, DD (Darrick Doerner), that he's probably watched 10,000 hours of watching and studying the sea. Now of course, naturally, he didn't literally count every time, but in Chinese culture, for example, the use of 10,000 simply means, a very much lot or uncountable, so, I think that's what he meant, to study the sea, to surf in it, to explore it, watch it, learn from it, and learn all it has to offer every moment of every chance that you have. The sea, to a surfer, is life. It is, our everything.

When the sea is Closed Out, that's the time for us to return to the Basics. Perhaps we'll spend some time on the shore, watching the rhythm of the thrashing waves. Squeezing the cool sand beneath our toes. Feeling the breeze against our skin. Smelling the salt air. Oddly enough, each of these things increases our sensory awareness, and, as such, increases our ability to experience more physical sensations when we do surf. In other words, the more that we learn to truly feel and be fully aware of all of our senses, the more stoke we can feel when we do drop down the Face of a beautiful wave. There's so much to study and be aware of, so much to notice with our senses. Sure, you can see waves approach, but, can you feel them? Go ahead, try it, stand or sit on the beach and close your eyes and simply feel the pressure of the sea as it rises towards you. You'll feel an air cushion push against you with each wave. Interestingly enough, if practiced long enough, such sensitivity can be used when you're out in the Line Up and you can sense when a big swell is coming, even without seeing it. That was but one example of what can be done.

Another thing to do is to simply watch anybody who happens to be out when we might be considering not going, in mere moments, their fun will embrace us and we'll find ourselves running with our board in hand to the next wave. It's a cool feeling, to feel the stoke of others.  For me, as two of my pets fight for their lives this very moment, I am learning to truly dance in the moment,  to live now. To fully embrace what I have this instant. I am doing all I can for my two chickens, Sunshine and Lola. And, I pray that they can survive the day and night and live long beautiful happy surfer chicken lives.  Their chicken coop, by the way, is decorated as a Surf Shack, with two paintings of surfing chickens, and surf memorabilia such as tiki cups and statues, jars of exotic cigars from around the world, an old checker board, and so on. I pray the two of my chickens who are sick can heal today. The third, Gwenny seems to be doing great!!! I'm trying to take my love of surfing and infusing my body with it as I pet them and comfort them today, filling them with love and hope and beautiful dreams, as well as beautiful memories. Please, any of you out there, if you have a prayer for a special pet, please send it along a wave today. Thanks, and love to you all.  Aloha.

Let's all, surf, this moment. And, love. And Live.

Bodaciously Stoked,

Lily of the Valley