paddle paddle paddle

A few weeks ago, my friend Jill asked me to sign up for a two-day surf lesson on the Oregon Coast. I'd never had a keen interest in learning how to surf, but I have this condition where it's almost impossible to say no to potentially adventurous opportunities. (Maybe that's why I moved here??) Anyway, I said yes. Days before our road trip, I copped an attitude. I folded my arms and took the 'I don't wanna surf' stance. (Which is different from the 'Look at me, I'm on a surfboard' stance).

It turned out to be awesome. A Seattle-based surf shop runs these lessons for cheap and rents out full body gear (yep, the water up here is damn cold even in August). Surfing felt like a combo of boogie boarding and water skiing. The weather was on our side, which helped. The beach was full of surfers of every stripe, many with dogs in tow. The waves were intimidating at first-- I don't even know the last time I went to the ocean-- but once I swam out past them it felt really good to be in the salt water. Plus, I ain't gonna lie, waves are fun.

The 'lesson' was pretty much a joke. Todd, the surf shop owner with a beer belly and a dragon necklace, gave us a push into our first wave and then did his own thing. He did check in randomly to give us a thumbs up. Jill and I caught on pretty quickly. We both got up briefly a few times, crashed a bit, and relaxed on our boards. I couldn't help but laugh when I got up, or even rode a good wave lying down. At the end of the day we were both happily exhausted.

We're going again in a few weeks, this time on the Olympic Peninsula. In the meantime I'll practice doing my pop-ups.

...and to think just a few short years ago I was a Queens girl riding the N train...