MAGIC

Found this random video online and think that person might actually be me?

Steve noticed them first, "I think I see some mammals out there?" Annemieke and I scanned our eyes across the grey surface of the ocean for several seconds. We were total skeptics on this matter. But then, miraculously, there they were. A smattering of black fins skimming along the coast, just past the breaks. Here. In the motherfucking Rockaways. Our minds were — how do you say — blown? We watched them from shore, then suited up for a morning surf session.

An hour or so later, the dolphins were back, swimming in the opposite direction. I was sitting on the sand, recovering from a major wipeout and heat exhaustion. The wetsuit I'd worn, (4/3) was WAY too hot; I'd had to keep flushing it through with ocean coldness to maintain sanity. After peeling the suit off, I was reluctant to 1) put it back on 2) dive back in the water in just a bikini. But those dolphins were SO CLOSE. I grabbed my board and headed out anyway. It was cold, but I warmed up soon enough from all the paddling. I paddled until my arms felt weak. Then I paddled some more. The people back on shore looked no taller than than the tip of my pinky, and the dolphins — the dolphins were swimming by me a mere 10 feet away. I could hear them breaching, just going about their business as usual. But for me, it was pure magic: I felt alive, humbled, and utterly grateful for this moment.

THE DREAM

The Dream

JUST DOING IT

Once upon a time, I had this pie-in-the-sky dream that after I finished high school, I would take a year off to surf in Hawaii before I went to college. My parents nixed the idea immediately of course. A year off would surely lay fertile ground for avoiding college altogether and crush their hopes of me becoming a lawyer or doctor — neither of which I’d expressed the slightest desire of ever, EVER, pursuing. So when I ended up attending school at Indiana U, smack in the middle of a hayfield in the Midwest, the idea of surfing pretty much evaporated from my existence  — except for an extended layover in Hawaii, where I used my one day to hit the waves. Then The Dream burrowed itself away for a very long hibernation.

When I moved to coastal waters along the East Coast, I still had nary a thought about what seemed to me a very distinctly West Coast endeavor. But that dormant little seed finally took root and three years ago, a little internet searching led me to find surfing lessons that were held in the city. I started swimming regularly with the intent of taking a lesson that spring. Life got in the way again, but then this year, free from a 9-to-5 and with the ocean beckoning, I finally booked that first lesson.

It happened today. The basics of how to lie on a board: perfectly centered, toes touching the tail. How to paddle: back arched, one arm at a time. How to pop up: feet wide apart facing the rail, but perched along the center stringer, head turned forward. And most importantly, I learned to get past that initial hesitation and just get to the beach. The rest will take care of itself.