Surf’s Up
By: Lara Dustin Scriba
(3 min. read)
It’s like magic; my fourteen-year-old son literally leaps out of bed when he knows the surf is up. Most mornings, I get a grunt, a long gaze, or maybe even “What’s for breakfast?” but not on surf days. Surf mornings, his alarm is set the night before, and he is magically morphed into the most motivated, joyful morning person I have ever seen.
We all know how tumultuous the teen years can be, and I am so grateful that he has found a way to channel all of that teen energy and angst. The world falls away when riding a wave, demanding every ounce of your attention and physical presence. You become one with the ocean watching, waiting in anticipation for the next wave. Noticing the rhythm of the sets, the characteristics of the waves, and the best placement to catch a wave. All of your senses are immersed in the moment, and you enter a blissful state of flow.
This all sounds fantastic, of course, until you actually try and catch one of those waves, which requires dedication, grit, and a whole lotta humility. As a beginner, this is the moment that it feels like chaos ensues. Sheer determination to harness the energy of the wave becomes a comical calamity of errors, and if you’re lucky enough to defeat all odds, you make it up on the board. That moment, though, is sheer bliss and what keeps you paddling right back out for the next wave.
What I love most about his passion for surfing is that it not only brings out the best in him, but it has become a shared passion for our family and allows us a chance to connect, collectively learn, and grow together.
There is nothing more bonding than a shared experience. We all started as beginners and have grown together in our skills, but more importantly, it is an opportunity to cheer each other on. To celebrate each other’s successes, laugh off the failures, and encourage one another to get back out there when we feel defeated.
One of our favorite spots is in Tenacatita, known for its consistent yet gentle waves, is the perfect place to build confidence and allow a sense of play. Its forgiving nature appealed to us beginners, and it didn’t take long for a gaggle of us to show up every morning. By 8:30, texts started to fly, “Surf’s up, who’s in?” All of us aspiring surfers anxiously await another chance to play on the waves.
Silliness ensued once our skills improved enough for us to start to consistently catch waves. You could hear the squeals of excitement when someone caught a wave, and the crowd would cheer “Party Wave” when we caught one together, or we’d even try to hold hands or hug as we caught a wave together. It was a place of laughter, celebration, and sheer delight; the ruckus we caused could be heard throughout the anchorage!
One morning, my husband and I decided to sit it out, and the boys went ahead without us. We could hear the predictable hooting and hollering, but it started getting louder than usual, so we peeked our heads out of the hatch. Assuming we were missing an amazing surf morning, we quickly donned our gear, hopped into the water, and paddled over.
To our surprise, once we arrived, we found out that they were not surfing squeals of joy, but they were seeing whales breaching behind us, and they were squeals of celebration that these majestic animals decided to pay us a visit.
A perfect reminder to pay attention and never pass up an opportunity to experience the magic of nature, you never know what will pop up!
