I've Been Busy

It's been a while since I surfed. My mother-in-law passed away last week, she was 94. Needless to say we were busy making "the arraignments". She was a beautiful person and never said a cross word to me. I think because she knew I got it. That you work hard and sacrifice in order to provide a warm and loving home for your family.

My daughter wrote a really nice eulogy on Facebook:

My grandmama was fearless and strong, holding down a career at a time when women weren’t respected for doing so. She worked at the Alpha Beta corporate office back in the good ‘ol days when you could smoke at your desk and have a cocktail at lunch. Later, she worked for Northrop where she learned to use a computer like a pro even though she was in her late 50s.

She doted on my sister and me, and we were better for it. We would watch Golden Girls (before it was cool) and Lawrence Welk. Any time we spent the night, she would let us stay up late to watch Johnny Carson. She would often get a treat from "52 Flavors" for the two little girls in the back seat of her champagne Cadillac. "Don’t tell your mom,” she'd say. We didn't.

She had HBO, which was a most coveted prize back in the 1980s. I would have had to wait until my 20s to see Dirty Dancing if not for grandma’s HBO. She was at once formal and inviting, using her good china to serve us liverwurst sandwiches on toasted rye with mustard (it’s good, you should try it).

She had a rotating Christmas tree that provided countless hours of little-girl wonderment.

She loved all things fancy and elegant, which is probably why I have her ornate gold mirror, her ridiculously gaudy but gorgeous lamps (complete with Grecian dancers and silk shades!) in my living room. Because a girl needs nice things.

She was my go-to grammar resource through the 1990s. I would call her from college to ask what word went where and she would know the answer. She'd even have me diagram the sentence to figure it out myself. She was a walking grammar book and it was her influence that made me the walking grammar book that I am. She even taught me shorthand, which I would use more if anyone else could decode it.

Perhaps the best thing about my grandma is that my sister and I never had to share her with anyone. She was all ours all the time, and I was lucky enough to have her for 40 years of my life. I will miss her for the rest of my days.

Glam 

Four Generations

Yesterday Afternoon

As I sit here watching the storm bear down on us I'm so glad I took the time to squeeze in a session yesterday afternoon. Yeah, there was a little bit of West wind on it but the faces were clean, the size was head high plus, there were only 8 heads in the water and the rides were really long. My GPS watch had two of my rides at over 260 yards. Looks like it's going to be a few days before the wind and rain leaves us so yesterday's sesh will have to tide me over. The good news is the San Mateo will deposit a lot more sand and rocks into our little piece of paradise.

Haters gonna hate

Start Frothing

Enjoying Some Alone Time

Not me

Moody Sunday

A crisp and clean morning with head high waves There were some moody people out there today. I even had an exchange with a longboarder and I'm the nicest guy out there :-). The details don't matter, he was a kook. I heard later that Fred got into it with the same dude. I wish these kooks would take their bad karma elsewhere. Anyway, I had a fun morning, caught 3 nice set waves and a handful of smaller waves in the bay. I think the bay had better waves.

Jeff Garcia on a nice one. 

WTH is wrong with that dude way out on the shoulder?!?

Dawn Patrol

More swell today. Head high when we paddled out and increasing in size as we left. More than enough to push through the 6.2 high tide. Light crowd conditions and offshore flow. Had a blast. Here's a rogue set wave that caught everyone inside.