Surf City

I'm helping Andy out by putting his blog post on the Holdaway Hive. I'm doing this so you can see his post but also for me so when I publish a book from the blog postings, Andy's posts will be included. Maybe Andy will do this on his own going forward...:).

Surf City....

I am watching Willy the dog try to eat flies, and that kind of sums up the tempo of my trip to San Diego thus far. The surf is down this morning, and court has to work, so I decided to take a "professional development day." I'll start the trip from the beginning, and walk you through the adventures. (I have been taking pictures, but I think I forgot the card reader for my camera, so you may have to wait for the visuals.)

Court was wrapping up a weekend in Baja when I arrived, so I was greeted at the airport by his roommate Jared. Jared is a sweet kid who recently discovered religious zeal with a local charismatic Christian group. As we were driving back, he asked if I wouldn't mind going to services with him. I always enjoy a little christian rock on Sunday's so I accepted.

As we drove he began to explain how he was going to college with this group and really learning to "tear the scriptures up." I asked for an example and he roughly paraphrased a scripture describing how man's love is simply an extension of God's love for us. He asked me if I knew it. I had to honestly say that while the sentiment seemed familiar, I did not know the scripture and verse. He responded with "I'm surprised you don't know that one...I thought that since you are LDS you would have heard that before." I'm still pretty sure he couldn't name the passage either. Anyway, he went on to describe how before his studies, he would not have known what to do with that scripture, but he's been taught to look beyond the superficial meaning to understand that if he loves someone, it is only because God loved them first.

I could tell this conversation was going nowhere, so I tried a different tack; I asked if he was studying the scriptures in the original Hebrew and Greek. Of course he wasn't. The more he talked about it, i was reminded of the rigors of high school seminary, where the emphasis was on not sleeping and passively absorbing good vibes from the instructor. Needless to say, I walked into the meeting with a little skepticism.

The meeting was held in a large auditorium, and the message was a solid sermon on controlling our tongue and using it for good. The lead singer was a dude with long hair and a beard clad in a snap-up plaid shirt and jeans -- a quintessential Californian. The only thing I don't like about those meetings is how there are far too many people with hands raised in a trance like state. It kind of creeps me out a little. I can't doubt their sincerity, however. After the meeting, I was greeted as the non-member friend. I proudly told people I was from Provo, and that I enjoyed the service. I was prepping myself throughout the meeting for a barrage of attacks that actually never came. My strategy was to deflect any criticism by asking folks to focus on the positive aspects to their faith instead of trying to sew seeds of doubt about my own.

Once we got back to court's house, I grabbed a rusted out beach-cruiser and headed out to the beach. Jared was unable to offer much in the way of directions, so I just set out having heard from court that the beach was "just a mile away." So it turns out that court's house is more like four miles away over very hilly terrain. After a couple of hours in the heat of the day, I did make it to the beach at Del mar. I found a nice park and laid in the sun for an hour or so. It was so nice when I decided to leave that I chose not to put my shirt back on. I don't think I've ridden a bike without a shirt on since I was a teenager. It felt good. It also resulted in me losing my shirt a couple of miles before I got to court's house, requiring a bit of a detour.

When I got back I was greeted by court freshly back from Baja. He proposed we go down to the beach to do a little surf reconnaissance. We went down to Torrey Pines which is a gorgeous beach with towering golden cliffs set above a nice sandy beach. The water was actually warm, and the body surfing was great. We went to In n' Out for dinner, and called it a night.

We got up early yesterday morning and went down to the beach at Del Mar. We got out in the surf and tried to catch some waves. The waves were sporadic and choppy, and the board I was using was too small for me to try to learn on. We called it after an hour, went up the coast to Cardiff to get donuts and watch the old men surf on incredibly long boards. When we got back, Court's roommate Justin greeted us with the happy news that he had found a surf van. It is a 1989 Toyota. A total piece of junk that he had negotiated down to $900. The trick was we had to drive up to east orange county to pick it up. So we all went on a road trip.

Getting there was uneventful. We spent the bulk of our time coaching Justin on different bartering skills and reminded him of how he had used such skills to buy a 12 inch ceramic surf monkey for $2 and a pineapple at the border just the day before. He went into the test drive with confidence. Long story short, vans were purchased, surf adventures were exchanged, hearts were warmed. We drove back, stopping for delicious fish tacos on the way.

When we got back to the ranch house, court informed me that 6 of his buddies from his baja trip were going to crash for the night. When they rolled up, there were surf boards and wet smelly gear everywhere. We sat around talking for a while, when it was determined that we all needed to head out to the beach for a sunset surf. Even though the wave were not so great, I started to master some basic concepts such as sitting on the board without flipping over, and catching whitewater. I got to my feet a few times, but it was anything but graceful. We came back and went to Trader Joes where court is convinced all the cute girls hang out. I didn't really see any, and of course we didn't talk to anyone. We came home, made some Indian food from a jar and watched a surfing instructional video.

That brings you up to speed on the trip. In writing about it, it seems like very little has happened, but I am having a great time. I love seeing court. He told me yesterday that he is happier than he's ever been, and that made me glad for him. Being here has made me seriously consider running away from life and responsibility, living only for the next big swell. Surf culture is a very seductive lifestyle, albeit incredibly self-indulgent. I have a feeling the Army would wonder where I went too... but a boy can always dream.

I'll post photos and details shortly...