“Give. Give more. Give what you didn’t get.” ~ Garry Shandling, comedian Garry set his elbows on his knees and leaned toward the T.V., pointing. “See that? He’s totally in the moment. That look, you see it?” He paused the fight. We examined the look in Floyd Mayweather’s right eye…

“If in doubt, paddle out.” ~ Nat Young Christian and I have been hitting a new spot closer to home. A couple days ago, he made the call to head back to this break that I have yet to understand. …

“I must be a mermaid, Rango. I have no fear of depths and a great fear of shallow living.” ~ Anaïs Nin Agatha Christie was a surfer. Yes, the English mystery writer loved sliding the waves, and even was one of the first women to rock a one-piece swimsuit out…

“Forbearance in the face of fate, beauty constant under torture, are not merely passive. They are a positive achievement, an explicit triumph.” ~ Thomas Mann Your mental health depends on surfing? So does mine. Your favorite break is empty because everyone is sheltering at home? So is mine. Let’s talk…

“Hark, now hear the sailors cry, Smell the sea, and feel the sky, Let your soul & spirit fly, into the mystic.” — Van Morrison, Into the Mystic I’m really stuck right now on how to define my religion. It’s clear I have one, and that surfing is at the…

“The cure for anything is saltwater: sweat, tears, or the sea.” — Karen Blixen, novelist (Otherwise known by her penname Isaac Denisen) Surfing is sexy. A quick scroll through images of waves on Instagram lulls you into a dreamy quixotic dream of magical blue liquid, curling in slow motion, plunging…

“I know what I have to do now. I’ve got to keep breathing because tomorrow the sun will rise. Who knows what the tide could bring?” – Tom Hanks, from the film Cast Away I stand in the parking lot in the eerie, predawn light. It’s a reverse twilight that…

Every morning I splash cold water on my eyes, then check the tides on my phone. I make a fresh cup of black tea, goat milk and honey before the sun rises, and sip out to the deck while my son sleeps peacefully in my bed. I dream of the…

March 22, 2018. In my last dream of the morning, I see a text message from my surf coach Christian that says, “We’re going to a new spot today.” An hour later at 7am, he calls me and says verbatim, “We’re going to a new spot today.” By 11am at…