Thursday, May 30, 2013

Remember to breathe.


I adore the ocean. Really, who doesn't? I've always wanted to live someplace where I could see it anytime I wanted, because it's virtually impossible to be unhappy when you have this incredible body of water sprawled out in front of your eyes. It just fills you with this sense of possibility, you know?

But we've yet to seriously explore our little piece of ocean - watch it from the sand, yes; go delving into its depths, not so much. Let's be real here, I'm sort of afraid of the ocean. It's just so powerful, so uncertain, so full of strange creatures who probably won't but might swim up and attempt to eat my toes. Also, it's cold. And I'm a baby.

This Memorial Day Ryan got a little wild and crazy, rented a surfboard and a wetsuit and headed out to attempt surfing with friends. And I brought along my trusty camera, because there wasn't a chance I was going to miss capturing this. For the record, we both DID take a surf lesson on our honeymoon and I feel like we absolutely did a good job for beginners (wait, you're telling me the instructor says that to everyone? LIES), but ohhhh I'm glad I didn't have someone taking pictures of the ridiculous faces I surely was making while freezing my buns off, squinting in pain while salt water pelted my contacts and I tried to balance on a slippery, wet contraption. 

Monday was a rough go. They couldn't manage to paddle out far enough, and they kept getting knocked around in the choppy waves. They had to call in a lifeline (lifeline, as in "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" not lifeline, as in "we're drowning, call a lifeguard"). Enter Ryan's friend, Matt, who's lived here his whole life.

It was crazy to watch Matt swim out. You'd never guess how big of a difference it makes, growing up with the ocean. Learning all of its ebbs and flows. Before the surfboard even came into play it was obvious. And with a little bit of help from him, they did manage to attempt to catch some waves (the lingo - I'm getting it, right guys? Gnarly, bro). 

We ended our beach day with a 3 mile barefoot run in the sand, which is just as awesome as it sounds, minus the part when we both got tangled in a strange man's fishing line (seriously, who fishes on the crowded beach in the middle of the afternoon?). 

We've got a long way to go before we overcome this previously-landlocked handicap of ours, but right now I just feel pretty lucky to sit in awe as we take in the ocean and all of its mysteries.

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This is the part where you tell the pups how cute they are.
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