Friday, June 17, 2016

Chasing Dolphins

Seeing a decent swell at my home break this morning, and getting out in it, made for a sweet return home. The news lately has been a real bummer and I woke up super early with the nabobs nattering in my skull, those know-it-all cretins that react predictably ignorant to any and all "news" events. And the media just loves to feed them, of course, to get their ratings up and sell more product. I was feeling overfed and reluctant to buy. Would the waves save me? They certainly helped.

Got into it early. My mind was put at ease by a sizeable set wave that took me all the way through the sections and nearly to the beach. Hello. That's more like it. Be in the moment. On the water. Hey to the usual suspects out there with me, sharing the stoke before the sun peeked over the eastern ridge.

Good morning!

There's DR coming down the line on a head-high slider wave of the day Yeah!

Juan looks spiffy in a new wetsuit, had to double take that it was really him.

"You don't look right," I say. "New wetsuit?"

"No more Swiss cheese," he says with a big smile, referring to the wetsuit full of holes that he has worn for years.

Meg, Brian, Ron are out, too. Brian carves a a long ride from the point outside to the shallows, stylin all the way.

There was a high surf advisory in Southern California yesterday but I didn't see waves at C-Street or Rincon driving home. The Channel Islands prevent south swells from reaching these points, while waves are breaking farther south in Santa Monica Bay and Orange County.

Adding to the coastal malaise, a brush fire broke out in Refugio Canyon and jumped Highway 1, which was closed for about 24 hours. I was prepared to take an alternate route that bypasses the coast north of Santa Barbara, going up past Lake Cachuma, but PCH was reopened around 8am just before I got there. Stale grey smoke hung in the air like an unwanted guest at a party.



Speaking of unwanted guests, Trump the Big Mouth was making his own foolish news pointing fingers at immigrants and Democrats as the cause of the Orlando slaughter by automatic weapons while sales of those same guns were going faster than Super Bowl tickets. Everyone needs a military-style weapon with a full magazine. You get the feeling that the NRA is behind all the mass shootings, not terrorists. It's good business, high profit margin. It's easy for these murderers to say they're terrorists when they're insane. Nearly every one of them is mentally ill. Then there's the argument that guns don't kill people, people kill people. They just happen to use guns. Duh. It's pretty clear that it's all about selling guns. Profit before people.

Meanwhile once-reputable Sen. John McCain is caught blaming the president for the Orlando massacre, because Obama withdrew troops from Iraq. Why were we in Iraq in the first place? Do you think, Senator, that invading the Middle East might have anything to do with creating a backlash of terrorists? Put yourself in their shoes for a second. Granted, there is no easy solution. We at least need to carry on a reasonable dialogue if we are to solve our problems. Instead, it's the blame game. Come on, folks. It's our fault, each and every one of us, for putting up with this shit.

Boycott media. Pay attention to your own actions. Don't blame others for your problems. Stop
consuming so much. Look between the lines. Understand subtly and nuance. The world is not black and white. We are all in this together.

Let's go surfing.










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