I paddled through the foggy mist out into the cold, cra
shing waves of Ocean Beach. Full wetsuit, booties, gloves,
cap.... the whole shabang. I forced myself to forget about
the blue skies and warm water of the past 2 weeks. The sunn
y playground of southern California where we all jumped int
o the waves wearing just trunks or a swimsuit. How I missed
the glorious feeling of the sun beating down on my skin an
d listening to the soothing sounds of crashing waves while
we lay on the beach sunning after a good session. It was Au
gust in San Francisco.... and you know the old saying!

"The coldest winter I ever spent, was a summer
in San Francisco."

Mark Twain

I surfed alright. the waves were fine. Just made me rea
lly sad to be shivering in freezing water when it was the m
iddle of summer! I didn't have time to be sad for long, how
ever. School started back and I have been swamped with gett
ing my rooms ready and getting to know my new students. The
re's a lot to do and very little time to do it in. I can ha
rdly believe that it has been 8 weeks since I came home fro
m San Diego and felt that cold water. ::sigh::

In my eight week absence from surfing.... I've really h
ad to come to terms with what is important to me and what
I need to do to have a life that I love waking up to. It's
pretty simple. I have to live someplace where it's sunny an
d warm, with blue skies... and someplace where there is an
ocean with waves. That doesn't seem like too much to want..
. so... I'm not settling for less. But... how to get there?

I had been all set to move from northern California to
southern California. But, for a lot of reasons...... I had
to put my plans for moving down south, on hold. I have a gr
eat job.... great friends.... and a great opportunity to co
ntribute to my community... and yes... we even have waves u
p here. So, I had to make a hard decision that this was not
the right time to make a major move. And,....It kind of se
nt me into a bit of a funk.

My one year mark has come and gone and I still haven't
really improved my bodyboarding skills that much. But, I'm
not giving up. Although, it's been 2 months since that day.
.... last Sunday, I paddled back out again... into that sa
me pea soup fog.... that same frigid water.... wearing that
same ridiculous outfit. It's just the way it is up here...
. so I'm going to make the best of it. And... I'm going to
get myself organized so that I won't have any more gaps in
my surfing like these past 8 weeks.

I'm still at work.... at a quarter past 6..... so... ge
tting organized will take some doing! But at the least... I
'm resolved to not let another weekend go by where I don't
paddle out at least once!