From The Field

Another weekend, another soccer tournament. This weekend finds me embedded at the Headless Horseman Tournament - Livermore. Here is a place that used to be empty - rolling hills, black oaks, willow, sage, rabbits, vols!, and redtails. Some of it remains, but urban sprawl is encroaching like mold on bread. And no shortage of vineyards. Well the soccer played out, and after a soulful of Japanese food and a sobriety check, I made it back to the compound. My player is sleeping and I'm wondering the halls - writing my shit. How was the surf today? Someone from SC told me the surf had picked up - the buoy say 8 feet at 12 seconds from 310 - que paso? Someone commented on my last entry, suggesting that the US Constitution was forced on the indigenous people of this land. I understand how they feel, but I see it differently. The US Constitution was created by a group of European colonists; setting up a government for themselves - white male landowners. Fortunately, they left it open enough for later inclusion of those who were not owners. I differentiate this from the Manifest Destiny policy that excused the blatant land grab that continues today. On this continent, it started with the colonization of North America by Europeans - land grab from the indigenous people. The constitution was set up among the colonists to govern themselves. Originally, indigenous people, non-owners, and women were not included. This government then set out on its Manifest Destiny policy to control coast to coast. And so it is. Land grab continues today - see Iraq. All that said, the words of the constitution speak of noble objectives - interpretation along the way has skewed what could be greater than it seems today. And land grab, power, control of resources, money? Who can resist? I do ok with an allotment of waves, the ocean, friends, and family - but I'm a simpleton. K street seems to be an inspiration for many - but not if surf is your main priority. Well, if you couldn't tell, there's not much to do in Livermore - from the field - aloha  ¶ 10:06 PM 2 comments

 

Going Back to Go Forward

My last post was ages ago. Not for lack of surf. A swell from 310 at 11.4 feet, 13 seconds showed up after several days of dismal surf. Of course the swell landed on Saturday the 15th. It was packed all day and the tide was phat, but after the usual soccer match I charged second bowl. It was going off - slight off shore, perfect tide, and waves setting up all the way through Sharks. Crowd was mellow until the photog-pro crew showed up. Then it was all business. I retreated to Sharks and finished out the evening. The next day the swell got smaller - more from a change in direction; the buoys showed 10.8 feet from 315 at 12 seconds. I made an attempt to surf, but the crowd size and lack of consistency made the couch a better option. Monday showed with sunshine and a significant population decrease. Surfed with the crew and had a great time on waist to head high waves. The surf continued to fall during the week, but there were a few fun windows. Again - another swell showed on the weekend - Sunday, that is. Swell on at 13.8 feet at 14 seconds from 305 mixed with a south that had trouble showing off at 2.4 feet from 195 at 17 seconds. Tide and wind made it difficult. I waited until Monday and caught good waves at second bowl. The swell had dropped to 8.2 feet from 300 at 14 seconds, but the south stayed at 2.3 feet from 190 at 14 seconds. Surf was small today, but the foggy cold conditions of the previous days gave way to a shiny day. Fun south sets intermixed with northwest. Surfed second bowl and Sharks with the local boyz and had great fun. The news pounding my ears highlights the pitiful. 2,000 US boyz gone to spread freedom and protect me from terrorists in the middle east. And guess what - probably about 80 Iraqis lost for every US boy lost. I've been thinking about our own march to democracy. Nobody forced it down our throats, tried to displace thousands of years of culture with another, or used violent force to make it happen. Our democracy became our culture because it was born of it. The Iraqis have not had that chance. In fact, in our example we have shown that if you don't like the politics, then use violent force to change it. The insurgency has learned its lesson from US. Why should they accept the politics we push - we didn't accept theirs, and used force to trash it. It got me wondering what the creators of our Constitution would think of our need to spread freeocracy by the sword. So I checked into first principle - that is, what is the first principle on which our Constitution and thus government is based? The Constitution is clear, yet leaves room to be dynamic. "We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America." Sounds groovy - no weighting on the objectives, except some of the words are capitalized. Union, Tranquility, Welfare, and Blessings of Liberty. It's hard for me to leap from these words to what we have today. Anyway, surfing Italy is still on the way - another shot to distract you from the culture bombing you receive on a daily basis. See ya in the zone! And by the way bird - my board is a truer shade of azul than yours - keep it real.  ¶ 11:36 PM 1 comments

 

So Much and So Little Time

In the wayback machine, on October 8, after days of small surf, the buoys show a swell in the bay - 6.9 feet at 9 seconds from 310 degrees. Meanwhile, at the Harvest Platform (Point Conception) two swells are showing. One at 6 feet from 310 at 12 seconds and another at 3.3 feet from 180 at 17 seconds. It seemed like things were shaping up - but no! Wind from the southeast and high tide all the next day killed it. The day after things cleaned up and the surf was pumping from both swell directions. The tide kept things muted during the morning session, and I had to go over the hill for soccer. I got back into town late afternoon and booked to the beach. The Hook and Sharks were good - solid overhead and offshore. Got some great waves with Anthony and watched a beautiful sunset. I checked the buoy that evening and it showed two swells. One at 7.6 feet from 305 at 14 seconds and one at 3 feet from 195 at 17 seconds. Choice and numbers! On Sunday the wind came back from the southeast and dominated. Throughout the first part of the week surfed second bowl and had fun on waist to head high stuff - a little bouncy, but fun. By the middle of the week the swell was small, and I was out of the water with an injury. I watched the waves at the point this morning - it looked fun, real clean, and the sun was shining - but, I was still out with a knee clusterfuck - and work. Hope all had fun! Check out Smiley with the 360 airs! Before the knee session, I was trying a new quad I got from Progression - speeeedy. Now that I am dry, I've got the quad DTs. A couple of quotes I picked up during the last month's turmoil. Said Tom DeLaid - "There's no proof toxics in the air are harmful to people.." During some radio broadcast regarding Katrina - "..Survival isn't about being polite, survival isn't about...." The picture above shows surfing in the Med - Italian style. Look for a gallery set I plan to assemble - in between work surf soccer surf work family soccer food sleep sleep sleep. The folks on top of the rapture concept believe that the latest rash of bad karma coming in the form of natural disasters and war indicate the end is near. For my part, I have always enjoyed predictions made by science fiction writers. They left plenty of room for surfers to survive, surf empty waves, and procreate. In my extrapolation from the natural disasters and war of our times, surfers, being excellent watermen (and women), survive by clinging to Mother Ocean - food and spritualism in abundance. Most of us don't want for much else but waves and something to ride them on - if all else fails, bodysurf. The lyrics below paint such a picture - if you have a chance, listen to the music for effect.

Hurray I awake from yesterday
Alive but the war is here to stay
So my love catherina and me
Decide to take our last walk thru the noise to the sea
Not to die but to be reborn
Away from the lands so battered and torn
Forever, Forever

Oh say can you see it's really such a mess
Every inch of earth is a fighting nest
Giant pencil and lipstick-tube shaped things
Continue to rain and cause screamin' pain
And the arctic stains from silver blue to bloody red
As our feet find the sand
And the sea is straight ahead
Straight up ahead

Well it's too bad our friends can't be with us today
Well it's too bad
The machine that we built
Would never save us that's what they said
That's why they ain't comin' with us today
And they also said it's impossible
For a man to live and breathe underwater
Forever was a main complaint
Yeah and they also threw this in my face they said
Anyway you know good and well
It would be beyond the will of god
And the grace of the king
Grace of the king

So my darling and I make love in the sand
To salute the last moment ever on dry land
Our machine has done it's work played it's part well
Without a scratch on our body when we bid it farewell
Starfish and giant foams greet us with a smile
Before our heads go under we take our last look at the killing noise
Of the out of style
The out of style

So down and down and down and down we go
Hurry my darlin' we mustn't be late
For the show
Neptune champion games to an aqua world is so my dear
Right this way smiles a mermaid
I can hear Atlantis full of cheer
Atlantis full of cheer  ¶ 10:57 PM 1 comments

 

The Buck Stops Here

The surf is small at the Hook, a little larger up the point. A north-northwest swell (310 degrees)at 10 seconds is barely making it around the point. Of course, the surf is bigger up north where there is more exposure. Saw Pat and Wayne going out for a LB session at second bowl - I'm sure they had fun. Rich told my wife he was out for three hours! I was hard at work. I got surf before and after the weekend mayhem swell, but the water looked too dangerous over the weekend. Did some SB tracks before the week-ender and had some fun riding Rich's and Rick's LBs on Sunday. It was tough to hear about the surfer who past while surfing Sunday at Sharks. You just never know when you'll get the call - so don't waste time. The days have been bright and the fall equinox is behind us. It's downhill from here till the winter solstice - not my favorite time of the year. These days, it matches my own cycle of life too closely. No rumors of swell on the event horizon, but this is the time of year for west swells and good conditions. Looking back on the year - it's been a strange one. Late rain, barely any summer, and swells far and few between. Well, I'm sure you're all happy that the US torture fix is over. We've cleaned house by prosecuting two PFCs and it seems we've got everything all wrapped up. The Gonzalez memo, Presidential review, the military chain of command, continued stories of torture - all inconsequential. Just a few bad apples - couple of PFCs, a high ranking officer transferred - kinda reminds me of the few bad apples that were fixing the books, participating in insider trading, swindling government contracts, influencing the direction of the peoples money through government lobbying, cronyism, the list goes on. It must be a large crate of apples to have just a few bad ones. Tough times for GW, but the buck stops here. He promotes intelligent design - but can't see the conflict in it. The picture above is evidence of that. The water is shining so bright - see ya out there.  ¶ 10:51 PM 0 comments