Practice Makes

Looking south from Crystal Pier this morning. Life and death at the shore. Today in some big surf I made a miscalculation. I was moving to a different spot in the surf lineup–the informal order of surfers in the water–and I accidentally got in the way of a surfer taking off on a wave. We didn’t collide, but I did ruin his experience of the wave. I hate that. That was a strike. One strike. The way it works in my head is that three strikes, and I must leave the water. Strikes can be: feeling tired problems with equipment (loss or damage to wetsuit, fins, handplanes) getting hurt waveriding other minor injuries (chafing of wetsuit) saying to myself “I’m tired” the mere thought of “it might be time to go” Basically, I need to retain completely enthusiastic consent to be in the water riding waves. Anything less means it’s time to go. I give myself permission to leave for any reason at any time. When I ignore how tired I am; when I ignore the impulse to leave, that’s when I end up making…