“Sometimes reality gives you a womping, like the one I received a while ago at Solimar, bodysurfing in 6-footers.” Photo: Ken Cullings
“Sometimes life doesn’t go the way you expect. Sometimes reality gives you a womping, like the one I received a while ago at Solimar, bodysurfing in 6-footers. Sometimes it pulls the rug right out from under you, flips you upside down and leaves you hanging above it, wondering what the hell happened. But sometimes…sometimes…sometimes things have to fall apart, so better things can come together. There is always a lesson. Look for it the next time you are struggling. The lesson is the gift.”
Two days after I typed this into my phone mid-breakdown, somehow coming up with wisdom as I emotionally fell apart, I caught the best wave of my life at the same beach which had added to my ruin just days before. By then the swell had built up and there were perfect 8-footers rolling in like corduroy. Farther south, it was 15-20 feet ALL DAY (rare in Ventura) but not ride-able. Two guys paddled out through the harbor, but as soon as they tried to catch one of the beasts, it sucked them up, gargled awhile and spit them out in a washing machine of whitewater. The thing about this swell wasn’t so much the size of the waves, but the heinous current. Even if they managed to catch a wave, they’d have been hard-pressed to find a way back outside. The waves came constantly at 14 seconds; just long enough to come up, breathe, and duck before the next one curls down. While I’ve been referring to the waves rather negatively here, in truth they were beautiful. My neighbor Ken and I watched the 18-footers for a solid two hours before I finally tore myself away to join my friends up the coast, where the waves halved in size. He was up since 5am (it was now noon) snapping shots and breaking only to switch from coffee to beer. We pointed, hooted and gasped on cue, in our front-row seats for Mother Nature’s free show. As I said, sometimes life doesn’t go the way you expect, but everything changes. You’re not happy now? Just wait, I bet it’s about to hand you something better.
