April Fool's Session

Nobody played a joke on me for April Fool's Day, not even mother nature. We had waves. It was cool at the beach, with the sun blinking down from a milky sky, but the water was already in the upper 60's. From the sand, which was populated by bikini-clad girls posing for pictures or throwing Frisbees and petting dogs picturesquely, the waves didn't look so good but far on the outside, far, far past the end of the pier I saw a small surfer drop into a wave that was easily over his head.

It was a long paddle-out, particularly for an aging programmer who hadn't been surfing in months, but I finally made it outside and there, lo and behold, were some fairly groomed swells of 3-5 feet. What fun. What can I say? Getting on my feet the first time was a bit shaky; like trying to balance on a water ski, that wallowing back-and-forth motion as I went down the face of the wave, but I didn't care. And while I was surfing I remembered why I live here. And I remembered how rare and cool my life can really be when I make the time to paddle out.