Have you ever been sitting on your board in the early morning, when
the waves are glassy and the wind is slightly off shore, and enjoyed
meeting a pelican eye to eye as he glides along the crest of the
waves enjoying his own natural free ride? Sometimes it is just you
and the waves and nature and you get this feeling of wonderful peace,
and you almost feel like you're part of something that is us from an
earlier time. Maybe we came from the sea and those of us who surf and
have had surfing as a large part of our lives are able to feel that
oneness with the ocean again as other humans might not be able to.
The beauty of this relationship that many of us who have surfed for a
good part of our lives is that the ocean turns into a friend that you
can rely on in many ways. It is a great comforter in times of trouble
and stress. No matter how bad you might feel, once you return to the
oceans waves your spirit feels like it is being cleansed and a
feeling of peace seems to once again return to you. I don't think I
am alone with these thoughts or feelings. This I am sure is a common
bond, even if not talked about, amongst all who have spent a
considerable amount of time with the ocean and the natural source of
the oceans energy, its waves. The more you surf the more you become a
part of the waves themselves, flowing as one with the wave and
becoming as one with its form. We interweave ourselves with the wave,
almost caressing it as we move in and out of it in a harmonious
rhythmic motion. I guess you could call it a natural symphony that
only has two partners, ourselves and the wave. The closer we
intertwine ourselves with the waves the more at peace we seem to feel
with ourselves and the world around us. Maybe there is more to it
than we ourselves as surfers even realize. It could very well be that
in a way we are coming home each time we return to the ocean. Maybe
when that pelican meets you eye to eye on the crest of a glassy wave
he is also looking into the eye of a long lost friend from his past
as well. Neil