We spontaneously bought the new toy after seeing a surfing paddleboarder at the Outer Banks.
We had stopped on the side of cape Hatteras National Park, climbed a path over some dunes, and found a beautiful spot to hang out by the beach.
A troop of kids and adults had also settled down to chill. There must have been a dozen boys ages 3-14, each with a body board or surf board. At first I thought they were a surf camp. But there was no lesson going on, the boys were just running around, skidding on the tide pools, trying to figure out how to stay on the boards.
A Wednesday morning and the families were all local to OBX. Don't they have jobs? I wondered, but didn't ask.
I realized how much I love the idea of surfing.
The reward comes from the feeling. It's a personal one, based on what you like and what you enjoy. No one can tell you that you're doing it right or you're doing it wrong. You know if you are riding the wave, because it feels good to you. As a mom, it's so freeing for me, to not have to direct Kaio in what is the proper way to experience something. When he catches a wave, he knows it. The reward comes entirly separate from something I say, from any kind of 'good job.'
The action is in touch with nature, 100% dependent on nature. A conversation with the tide; it speaks and you engage. The pulse and breath of the earth merge with your actions. You are completely engulfed and embraced by the world through the wet water around you, the sun beating above, the wind blowing your hair, and the moon's magnetic mass pulling the breaking waves. There is never ending sensation of the elements of nature and the cosmos, how they merge in the dance with the ocean.
Joy coming from nothing but a board of wood or fiberglass gliding on water. The kids were completely entertained. The adults surfing themselves or fishing. No one was eating, whining, crying. They had perfect bodies sculpted and toned in the most perfect manner imaginable. They looked like how God intended a healthy human body to look.
And I realized how little you need when you have fun playing outside.
On the way out of town we stopped at a brewery running off of windmill power and finally succeeded in our quest for Hatteras style Clam Chowder.
We had stopped on the side of cape Hatteras National Park, climbed a path over some dunes, and found a beautiful spot to hang out by the beach.
A troop of kids and adults had also settled down to chill. There must have been a dozen boys ages 3-14, each with a body board or surf board. At first I thought they were a surf camp. But there was no lesson going on, the boys were just running around, skidding on the tide pools, trying to figure out how to stay on the boards.
A Wednesday morning and the families were all local to OBX. Don't they have jobs? I wondered, but didn't ask.
I realized how much I love the idea of surfing.
The reward comes from the feeling. It's a personal one, based on what you like and what you enjoy. No one can tell you that you're doing it right or you're doing it wrong. You know if you are riding the wave, because it feels good to you. As a mom, it's so freeing for me, to not have to direct Kaio in what is the proper way to experience something. When he catches a wave, he knows it. The reward comes entirly separate from something I say, from any kind of 'good job.'
The action is in touch with nature, 100% dependent on nature. A conversation with the tide; it speaks and you engage. The pulse and breath of the earth merge with your actions. You are completely engulfed and embraced by the world through the wet water around you, the sun beating above, the wind blowing your hair, and the moon's magnetic mass pulling the breaking waves. There is never ending sensation of the elements of nature and the cosmos, how they merge in the dance with the ocean.
Joy coming from nothing but a board of wood or fiberglass gliding on water. The kids were completely entertained. The adults surfing themselves or fishing. No one was eating, whining, crying. They had perfect bodies sculpted and toned in the most perfect manner imaginable. They looked like how God intended a healthy human body to look.
And I realized how little you need when you have fun playing outside.
On the way out of town we stopped at a brewery running off of windmill power and finally succeeded in our quest for Hatteras style Clam Chowder.
Entertained by a girl who wore her bathing suit for 3 days straight, and loves to dip cantaloupe in ketchup.
A few strong micro brew beers down, I was lobbying to start a nautical journey.
Then it only seemed appropriate to get a kid kayak too.
Now we're just one sailboat away from living the dream.
