Peanut or Shell?
When is the last time you got up at sunrise with your coffee to check the tennis court, standing around with friends staring at it, deciding if you will play? Likely never.
Conditions perpetually in flux add to the challenging and unique nature of surfing. Along with that is the novel aspect of surf culture, when one may take pride or find joy in describing a day of surf that was sooo good a day before you arrive to paddle out. Usually, the reaction is met with despair, annoyance, FOMO or regret. Sometimes it is a choice to miss a chance to surf and sometimes it is a real-life obstacle or scheduling conflict, and you just cannot go out for a session. In these instances, it may be difficult to celebrate that your buddies caught fun waves while you were absent, maybe making you determined to move mountains to be there for the next great swell. This may be futile.
Lamenting a missed session is akin to being frustrated with weather patterns, sometimes that is just the way it is. Expending energy on the missed opportunity is better channeled into high fiving the win for those that made it to the surf, knowing that this is cyclical and they will soon be in your shoes. Trust, you made the choice you had to, and take advantage of the days you can surf, even if it’s not deemed epic.
Living on the east end with fussy surf, especially this fall, makes timing and scheduling unpredictable, so do your best. One surfer referred to it as, ‘one day you are the pigeon, one day you are the statue.’ We prefer, sometimes you are the peanut, and sometimes you are the shell. The next time you can surf will be a blast, and you get to pass that on the next day to your friends in the parking lot.
Happy Surfing!