So, I just recently moved to California. I’ve always wanted to experience the ways of the West, having grown up on the opposite side of the country on the east coast. So, I’ve always pictured VW bugs, in pastel colors, light yellow, light blue, and they always have a surfboard on their roof racks. Other than the visual images in my head, the only thing I have ever seen on roof racks are skis, heading up north to the mountains. So, this concept of new sports, new people and a different, more positive attitude, always intrigued me and guided me.
Finally, I arrived, and it was pretty much all that I had hoped for. Long blonde hair was flowing to my left and to my right, and not only on women. Skateboarders glided past me up and down the road, and everywhere I went. No one made fun of them, and the police weren’t chasing after them, which growing up on the East coast, where police were a skateboarder’s nemesis, this was a strange occurrence to me. There were skate parks, which was pretty much the only thing we were consistent about wanting when I was growing up, because the only place to skate was at the high school, where we’d use stairs and curbs as our toys. But, finally I knew it was time for me to pick up a surfboard, and make my new existence as a Californian a reality. I was terrible. I kept getting scared that the leash was a shark, and I couldn’t get up after my first hundred or so tries. Finally though, someone let me borrow their soft longboard. Soft Longboards are my new best friend. Their buoyancy and stability gave me the opportunity to get up and to balance easier, it was awesome! I now surf before and after work each day, and truly feel like I’m home.
