I think its a lifestyle, one that most will never embrace. A lifestyle with no cares and just being chill going with the flow. Not being afraid to step out of line and a general unattached sense. Sort of an uncaring, willing to let everything just brush off your shoulder not concerned with everybodies fast paced lives and everything else that goes with that. Its a life of leisure and carelessness, just having fun and where ever you go is where you go. Not knowing what is next and not caring that every detail of your life is not planned. One of the guys off the Quicksilver Surf team put it best when said, "If you live life out of a book, you'll never have fun." So true!

I could be happy in some shanty with a board and the beach as my backyard. Nothing else would matter, of course some food and I guess if I had to a job... Other than that I could be pleased with just that, it would be even better if it was out in Cali or Hawaii or Fiji or something like that, but I would settle for Cape Hatteras North Carolina if I had to.

I miss it so much, now I live in Michigan and yeah there is not really any surf unless you want to have icicles hanging from your hair lol. Sad but true I guess the only time Grand Haven, MI gets good waves is when it is freezing cold. :(

A pesar de que esta playa es un Beach Brake (las olas rompen en la Playa) y no es común que en ella se quiebren las tablas, en Oaxaca hay otros lugares donde se hace Point Break (las olas rompen en una punta de arena o rocas) y ahí si sucede con frecuencia.

Algunos surfers deciden reparar sus tablas. Otros, como el techo del changarro permite ver, prefieren dejarlas si es que están a punto de abandonar el puerto y ahorrarse los 100 US que les costará ingresarlas al avión.

Increíble todo lo que puede aprenderse en una vacación.

Work
Entertainment
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My Interests & Hobbies
My Son
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Quotes
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Some of the pages are pretty rough, right now I am just trying to get them into the right format and mapped correctly then I will finish working on the content. Thanks to everyone that does read them though I appreciate it!

I've loved writing and had several journals before but I never kept an online one.. I'm quite excited about this blog.  There will be two of us writing entries into this blog, and well, I'm just one of the authors- I'll be writing on health, pets/animals, nature, community work, cooking/recipes, health related issues, and ... probably a few other things.

That's it for now. I'm looking forward to all this.  And oh, welcome to Nature's Cottage.

Check out this video of Mike Parsons riding a big wave:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPxLs0Cv4zY  How is that like participating with God?

For Further Study:  Read Psalm 51.  What do you hear God saying to you in this scripture?

This video impresses me and allows me to appreciate the art of pipe surfing. The speed that is generated from surfing across the wave is amazing and whilst in the crouch position the strength and balance in the legs shows why these surfers are true professionals. The wipeouts that i have viewed on other videos seem painful as the waves full power crashes on the surfers head. Luckily however these surfers have polished off their technique and nearly mastered the pipe allowing them to reduce their wipeout rate putting them into pole positions!

That's what happened to me this afternoon.

And the thing is, it was 4-6' and glassy -- a perfect fall day in Southern California. I paddled out with David (James showed up later) but I could not track down the peak I was after. It looked like there was a nice left -- but wait, there's a right! -- and I found myself chasing down those darn peaks without getting anything in return.

I was, indeed, in no-man's land.

The good news is the swell is supposed to last for a couple more days. Hopefully, tomorrow, I'll be right where I want to be: in man's land.

Hope you are too.

So instead of actually packing for a three month trip trekking around Southeast Asia, I plan imaginary trips that I think would seriously straighten me out and put me back in the workforce rejuvenated and well-balanced.  I plan weekend road trips, week-long stays in the Caribbean, adventurous hiking trips through South America.  It sounds crazy, I know, but I'm clinging to what I can get right now!

These are my top 3 trips that I am planning out in the hopes that the money will fall in my lap:

1.  Mexico.  Take me there NOW please.  I've been dying to go for awhile now, even to the point of threatening to run away and move there.  I don't even care what part of Mexico at this point (umm, well I'd probably say no to Tijuana, thanks), I just know that I want to BE there and I want to eat Mexican food and drink margaritas and shots of tequila and I want to learn to surf.  Preferably not after I had eaten all that Mexican food and had all that tequila to drink.

And plus, just look at these places to stay, or here (or this one to really get away from city life and come back relaxed and balanced).  Hold on while I drift back into my daydream of being in a nice hotel where someone else makes the bed and cleans the floors, wait - I can hear the ocean, and oh look someone is bringing me my margarita, ahhhh.

2.  Road trip.  I almost don't even care where the road trip leads, but being fall/almost winter a cute cabin somewhere would work just fine.  I'm think South Lake Tahoe could be a good plan, I hear they've got plenty of stylish cabin-type arrangements and I suppose I should learn how to ski at some point (that's right, I've NEVER been skiing, stop staring at me like you've seen a ghost!).  I'm really leaning towards the places that are outfitted with actual jacuzzis in each room, my sore skiing muscles are going to need a place to soak before I sit in front of a fire and watch the snow!

3.  Inca Trail.  Ohhh yeah, that's right, I'm going for major adventure here.  I want to HIKE the Inca Trail.  That's four days and 27 miles through desert, cloud forest, orchid-rich jungle, and mountain passes with elevations of 14,000 feet.  Bring it ON!  Really, how could you pass up this:

Yeah, I'll even risk having to pee in a bush to see those views. 

What the hell, while we're in Dreamland, I have another one: 4.  Southeast Asia.  This has been my DREAM for years now.  I really, really want to go wandering around Southeast Asia for a few months.  I know! It sounds like a long time!  But think of all there is to see... Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Singapore.  This trip is on my list of things to do before I die (morbid huh?).  Don't even mention that you've been to Southeast Asia to me unless you want to hear me go on and on about how I'm dying to go there and then assault you with a million questions about your trip.  Just a little warning.

Anyone want to join me?  Preferably someone that could also take care of my expenses and even my job while I'm gone?  No one?  Well, when you change your mind I'll just be sitting here at my desk sorting out another getaway from the daily grind.

Hulle word verneder, hulle hare word geskeer en hul kaal lywe word met afval besmeer.  Geluk!  Jy het WP-kleure in surfing!  Ouboet is trots op jou!

By mid morning the surf house occupants have risen, been fed and packed the three Land Rovers full of surfboards, eskies and backpacks. It´s an odd mix of first time surfers from Europe and Brits who get the occasional surf back home in England or Guernsey.

We drive out to the west for 30 minutes and then take a seemingly random gravel track out into the countryside. Finally we take a turn down hill and the big blue expanse of the Atlantic Ocean fills the windscreen. Our destination for the day is a big sandy beach ringed by scrub-covered cliffs on three sides. Granite rocks spill from the headlands on either side.

In the middle an A-frame peak angles onto the sandbank and breaks almost all the way into shore. I can´t wait to get out there.

The scene on the beach really is comical. There´s three other surf schools already there. Each with a tent or flags set up to mark their patch. Maybe two or three dozen beginners practising how to stand up on their boards on the shore. We join, pitching a tent for shade and dropping eskies and flags and rash vests onto the sand.

Unsteady beginnings
Despite the crowd on the beach, once I make it out the back it´s surprisingly empty. Just a handful of locals and a couple of us from the surf house. 

I soon realise that not surfing for 12 months isn´t the best preparation for a two week surf trip. The muscles in my shoulders and arms have atrophied so much that just paddling out through the three foot shorebreak leaves me exhausted. My lower back is tweaked from having to pull my chest up to paddle properly.

After a while I just paddle around with my chin on the deck of my board, like a beginner, too tired to keep my head up. I´m actually kinda scared how out of shape I am for surfing.

My first few waves are fairly spastic affairs. All jerky movements and badly timed turns. The surf guides must be scratching their heads, I think, after I had told them I had surfed for 18 years.

Coming together
Finally I sort my shit out. I stop doing turns and just concentrate o gliding down the waves. I´m surfing a 6´2 high performance shortboard like an old single fin. Rising and falling down the face. I´m starting to remember how to surf.

I pull off one particularly good wave with a huge grin on my face. I´m surfing again! Stoked.

And then I try to paddle back out and my arms will barely work. Exhausted, I rest my chin on the deck, flail around to face the shore and surf the next wave of white water to the beach.

A surfer haning five near sunset.  C-Street, Ventura CA.

Copyright Ryan Cardone/Tidalstock

It turns out it'd had actually been a pretty good day, on shore but fun. Pretty much everyone had entered a surf comp and had a pretty fun day, final came down to Fergal, Ollie, Damo and Kiwi transplant Liam Joyce. They only announced the results in the pub that night so everybody was out and in pretty good form, possibly because of the cheap (i.e. free) drinks promotion that bar was running. Ferg took the win in the end, the band started playing an fun was had, until the next morning.

I picked up a crazy hungover Damo at 7am. Turns out there was a price for all those free beers :P

We headed down the coast to the one high tide spot we were banking on, but the wind had gone just the wrong direction during the night and the spot looked awful, good old reliable Ireland eh? Turns out the swell was way smaller than expected as well.

We headed back to Lahinch to have some brekkie. Danny macs does a pretty sweet Surfers Breakfast (good old chips for breakfast, can't beat it) if anyone's ever looking for something in Lahinch I'd recommend this place. We headed up to Damo's then to check out the new Relentless DVD . It's fricken awesome by the way, really makes me want to give up everything here and just go travelling. We actually bumped into Fergal and Lowey later on in the day. It's pretty weird to watch a surf vid and discuss the waves and the guys style and then meet them later.

Pumped the video we decided to go looking again and headed off to reliable Dougie. By this time Ollie had joined the us and was pretty keen to get wet as well. It was small but the boys suited up anyway, Joycey was there already punting over the heads of the unsuspecting beginners in the lineup.

Damo and Ollie followed him out and proceeded to tear the crap out of the knee high dribblers.

Eventually the boys got tired of doing the same turn 7,458 times the came back in and we decided to call it a day.

We started heading back up the coast to Lahinch but along the way saw some white water off one the points and went to investigate, the tide was still a little low but there were a few slabby barrels coming through. I really wanted to make the most of the sun so I got the boys back into their suits and started racing down across the reef.

The first wave we headed out to was a left but by the time we got into the lineup the tide had pushed over the shelf and it wasn't really doing it anymore. There was a right just around the corner that was starting to work so myself and Ollie paddled over to check it out.

The bad thing about this was that we came in at the wave from the back. If you paddle out to a wave you usually get to watch a set or two break so you can see where the impact zone is. We just randomly paddle into a spot where we though the take off was, Ollie caught a small one and was paddling back out when a proper set came through and unloaded right in front of me. I tried to go under but the water was only about two foot deep so I got a ridiculous beating in which both fins got ripped off and I ended up sitting on some dry reef 100m down the line, not nice.

Damo had paddled over by now and managed to scrape into a few little barrels himself. Ollie was perfecting his late drop technique but always seemed to be hitting the lip just past me. But these things happen, I was just happy to be out there on a sunny glassy afternoon with two mates.

Not a bad end to the day.

Slater Wins Hard-Fought Battle Over Burrow for Boost Mobile Pro Title - SAN CLEMENTE, California (Thursday, September 11, 2008) - Kelly Slater (USA), 36, defeated Taj Burrow (AUS), 30, 18.97 to 18.63 to win an unprecedented third Boost Mobile Pro title at Lower Trestles today, and a staggering fifth win on the 2008 ASP World Tour.

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Kelly Slater Wins 9th ASP World Tour Title - MUNDAKA, Spain (Friday, October 3, 2008) Kelly Slater, 36, has won a record ninth ASP World Title after advancing out of Round 3 of the Billabong Pro Mundaka the ninth event of 11 on the 2008 ASP World Tour. Slater came into the event needing an equal ninth finish to clinch the title, he secured that by beating local wildcard Eneko Acero (EUK) in four foot waves at Mundaka this morning. Slaters 2008 crowning comes 16 years after securing his first ASP World Title at age 20. He is the oldest and youngest surfer in ASP history to win a world title.

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Featuring music by Buckethead, Imprint (Dedicated to Takashi Miike), from the Pepper's Ghost album 2007.

2. Work hard to get It.

3. If you fail, then get up, brush yourself off and try again.

4. When you succeed go back to step number one.

Myth has it that Archie, Head Ganger twenty years ago, deliberately knocked over of these office maggots with an open side of beef and the exposed rib bones sliced away half of his face.

They came out of the bar door and onto the street and quickly took him there by his shirt, him just passing by the hotel on his way home from the shed, a long walk to the Pass, and they hoisted him over the hotel step and through the public bar doors and inside the building where a dozen or so men from the killing shed were drinking hard after their pre-dawn shifts and who all stopped to see what distraction this particular commotion might produce.

They pushed him up sharp up against the bar-rail and demanded that he stay with them, and drink with them until they had all had drunk enough, and then join them for a counter lunch of beef and gravy and potatoes, and then drink on into the afternoon until weariness won over from thirst, and during the hours this all took they asked him from where he had come from, and to where he hoped to go to, and why he was here.

This surfing nonsense.

They clapped him on his bloodied shoulders and rubbed his long salty hair, they gathered around him all day and swept him up and included him as one of them, this Sydney boy, this gangman.

All cooked, centrifuged to extract the tallow, and then milled into a coarse and greasy meal, like buttered sand.

Then bagged and stacked.

Blood has been piped away from the killing floor into corrugated tanks which are boiled down overnight to a ruby coloured powder finer than talcum, a putrid dust pungent with a heavy rot that invades every pore, every orifice, every opening and breathing vent. A semi permanent festering stink that stays in the body for days and exudes itself again and again in the heat of any movement.

The high rafters of the cooking room hide platoons of giant rats; sleek, fat, black and fed to bursting from their nightly foraging from the split edges of the bags that we levered out of the stack and lifted onto our shoulders and carried up the gangplank and onto the carriageway and then into the waiting rail wagon like a line of native silver baggers rising bent and heavy laden with other mens' fortunes from an unmapped mine entrance in some wilderness known only to greed.

The seams of the bags all rotted and eaten out and the wretched spillage doused our bodies and heads as we transported the five hundred of them into the dark corners of the wagon and dropped them there one this way and the other one that.

We breathed in the rotted dust and bloodflour into our lungs and had it rubbed it into our pores, small black leakages wept from the corners of our eyes and we spat animal blood and we worked without ceasing until the carriage held its complement of one thousand bags and when the doors were finally slammed shut and sealed with lead stamped pendulum locks we all stood there stinking wordless and we were done.

We were done.

today i surfed the 5'10" Zippifish at Seal Beach with Max. it was about waist high, and kinda closed out.....but i got my corners. going tomorrow...

post #9 of the “30 day post project - 9/08 “

For your next day of driving, let’s go south on Highway 11 headed for the Puna District. Leave early and expect to get back just after dark because this area is furthest from Kona and contains some of the most beautiful, yet hidden, wonders on the Big Island. It is from Puna that, currently, the only up-close viewing of flowing lava is possible. You may want to pack a cooler for this day trip.

As you’re passing through Kainaliu, just south of Kona, a quick stop at Kona Joe’s Coffee Plantation, for some great Kona Coffee, will jump start your day. See their ad in the sponsors section in your Tour Guide. If you are driving straight to Puna, plan on about 3½ hrs drive time to get to the first sights in this discussion. If you have missed any sights that you wanted to see on the southern route, refer to Frank’s Travel Hints #1 and #2 and catch them on the way...just don't forget to allow for extra time.

Along the way you will pass Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. This is a fascinating place and not to be missed, but we will reserve it for a full day later.

The first turn is about 20 minutes past the park entrance at the town of Kea’au. Look for the stop light on the highway and the Highway 130 sign. The Kea’au Shopping Center has some great places to eat, like Paradise Bar and Grill, and is a good restroom break.

The first stop, in the Puna district, is the town of Pahoa. You will think you have just stepped back into the Wild West as Pahoa has a unique atmosphere like nowhere else on the island. Cute shops, and a great farmer’s market on Sundays, lends to picture taking and shopping. Tour Guide will suggest that parking is easiest at the Community Pool just a block from downtown, and there are public restrooms here.

Continue driving further into Puna on Highway 132 through the lovely tree tunnels to a magical stop at Lava Trees State Park. This gorgeous rainforest park is filled with birds and tropical plants and flowers. What makes this park so intriguing is the lava trees. Tour Guide will tell you how old lava flows surrounded the trees, leaving spires of hardened lava, giving it an eerie look. There are trails for hiking and bird watching is spectacular. This is also a good place for a restroom break as it will be a good while before the next restrooms are available. Highway 132 leads you to Highway 137, the Kapoho-Kalapana Road--the only road in America that is named for two towns buried by a volcano.

Turning toward Kapoho on Highway 137, the next stop is the Kapoho Tide Pools where you can experience great shoreline shell collecting and fantastic snorkeling amongst vibrant corals and tropical fish in protected tidepools. Though hard to find on your own, Tour Guide again knows the way to this secluded sanctuary and ancient village. Port-a-potties and showers are the only facilities here.

Just a few miles down Highway 137 is Ahalanui Hot Pond. This tropical park is centered around a hot spring that mixes with ocean water to create one of the most relaxing and soul recharging oases anywhere. Tour Guide gives you the history of what this area meant to the ancient Hawaiians. Picnicking, hiking, swimming and “expert only” surfing are some of the things to do here. There are restrooms, showers and water available also.

As you continue along the coast road, you will next encounter McKenzie State Park. Here the Ironwood trees create an unusual ambience of a pine tree forest. The sheer cliffs and majesty of the ocean beg for photographing. Swimming would be near impossible here, but the hiking is spectacular. Tour Guide will give more information about this other- worldly park. A permit is required for camping and the facilities are a bit run down.

Not far away is Kahena Beach. This beautiful black sand beach involves a bit of a scamper to get down the cliff, but is well worth the effort. Tour Guide will give you the easiest path to take. You may notice that this beach is “clothing optional”, thus it’s popularity. Swimming here is good, but currents can be strong if you get too far from shore.

Highway 137 used to become the Chain of Craters Road in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, but it has been cut by several miles of intervening lava flows. Today, it ultimately ends at Highway 130, the road back to Kea'au and the Hawaii Belt Highway. At the intersections of Highways 137 and 130 are the remnants of the town of Kalapana, buried in the 1960 eruption of Kilauea. Tour Guide will tell you all about the eruption, the heroic recovery efforts, and lead you on a brief hike to Kaimu Black Sand Beach, the newest beach on the Island of Hawaii. From the end of the road you can frequently see the both the eruption cloud over Pu'u O'o Vent and the steam plume where lava is entering the ocean, both several miles distant. At night, the glow from streams of lava pouring down the pali can sometimes be seen from here. Although hiking to the lava can be an experience to cherish, it is dangerous and hard work. The best, and most consistent, viewing is by taking an air tour, such as Big Island Air or Paradise Helicopter Tours.

Heading back from Kalapana, you will want to take Highway 130 toward Pahoa and Kea'au, you pass the famous "Painted Church". Tour Guide can tell you the history of this fascinating place. Just a little farther north is the intersection of Highway 130 with the road to Royal Gardens Estates, which currently leads to the Hawaii County-maintained lava viewing area. Call the Lava Hotline at 808.961.8093 for current eruption updates, lava viewing information and times of road openings and closures. As you continue towards Kea'au you will pass the Steam Rooms--a field of steam vents in small craters where locals go to take steam baths. Tour Guide has information on finding these craters and how to safely enjoy the wonders of natural, volcanic steam baths.

Upon returning to the Hawaii Belt Highway at Kea'au, one can proceed in either direction back to Kona, north through Hilo, a bit shorter and faster, or west through Hawaii Volcanoes National Park which, though longer, is much more scenic. If time permits, you may want to stop in Volcano Village, just off the highway, for some food, gasoline, shopping or maybe even some wine tasting. This may be the last gasoline available until you get back to Kona as it is many times hard to find an open gas station in the rural part of Hawaii Island after dark. Find your hotel in your Tour Guide and get turn-by-turn directions right to the door.

For more information on visiting Hawaii in general and touring the Big Island in particular, go here.

]]> http://exupdates.wordpress.com/?p=112 Tue, 07 Oct 2008 09:58:22 +0000 extremeabby http://exupdates.nl.wordpress.com/2008/10/07/4th-annual-jibassic-pro-invitational-coming-soon/ Get your winter coat on, brush the dust off your skis and head to boreal mountain resort for an evening of action packed with rail jam competiton. Pro skiers and snowboarders will display their talents in front of a capacity crowd at boreal on Saturday, October the 25 2008.

Each of the pros taking part will be competing for a piece of the $6,000 prize purse, tickets on southwest airlines and bragging rights for taking top honors in the first major rail jam of the season.
The event gates will open at 2pm for the crowd to begin strolling through the sponsor village, checking out the lastest gear from FUEL TV, thirty-two boots, 686 Outerwear, Dakine and many more. For those shredders who have been itching to slide, Boreal will host a public jib park, sponsored by Boards N motion of Auburn.

The show begins at 6pm where top skiers and snowboarders will stop the crowd with stunning tricks on the custom built snowboard magazine staircase. The terrain park crew is working hard this summer to build the brand new feature, which will be placed on snow trucked in exclusively for the event. FUEL TV will be handing out $100 bills to skiers and boarders who showcase the best tricks or wow the crowd, totalling $2,000 in cash.

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