ahoy, dolphin boy!

I should probably begin by saying: this post contains TRUE material. None of it is exaggerated or made up. The photos were all taken by either Bob or I. There are two new videos on youtube to prove it!

After three 5:25 a.m. wake up calls, I finally slept in today until 9. And did it feel good! I caught up on a few e-mails, worked on a synopsis for our next worship series, and anxiously waited for 1.800.surf.diva to call me. They did, in the form of Bob Rognlien, so he and I took our first afternoon surfing trip down to Manhattan Beach. It was 85 degrees today. People were actually tanning on the beach. Until today, I've never seen that. Probably because we usually go to the beach at the crack of dawn. I spotted Vera's long lost uncle Victor West in the parking lot by the beach. This bus is the definition of surfer transportation. It even has a little hula dancing girl on the dash!

I caught my best wave yet. I dropped in a much steeper wave this time and managed to stay on my feet. Then, I did a voluntary cut back! What a great feeling. As we were out, I noticed there were lots of dolphins and seals playing around us, so I ran back to the van to get the underwater camera. When I got back out, they were no where to be seen, so I took a few photos of Bob, and waited. Then I spotted a few. I sat up on my board, and that's when I shot THIS VIDEO. Watch it first before you read on.

I'll never forget this encounter with the marine life here in CA. "Oh my gosh!" Yes, I'm still saying that phrase. I can't believe how close that was. When I looked down in the water, I truly could see them swimming below my feet because the sun was shining and making the water ultra clean and visibility high.

So, with these highs came a few lows too. Bob and I were paddling out through a few waves, and all of a sudden a huge wave formed, so I paddled hard to try and get through it. As I was paddling, I noticed that there were two dolphins surfing the top of the wave. (From Bob's perspective--behind me, he said he saw 4 dolphins inside the wave as well. He said that three of them darted out of the way at the last minute, but he thought for sure the other one was going to hit me.) The dolphin didn't, but as I got mashed in the wave, my surfboard did hit me. It whapped me in the right knee. As if that wasn't bad enough, my leash hog tied me by my ankles and held me down while I got thrashed by another wave. As I was under the water, I can remember having this conversation with myself: "Well, at least my wetsuit has some buoyancy to stabilize me while I try to unwrap my legs!" Strange thoughts to be having, but I was so relieved to feel my body trying to surface. I eventually reached down, untied my legs, and surfaced. My knee was throbbing, so I started walking toward the shore. For whatever reason, instead of getting out of the water, I hopped back on my board and paddled out...I only paddled a few feet when I just started bawling. I think that was one of the scariest things I've ever experienced, and it finally hit me. I tried keeping my head down so Bob wouldn't see me freaking out, but he eventually paddled over to where I was and saw what was going on. I explained to him how I had been hog tied and hit by my board. He asked me what I remembered, and honestly, it was all pretty foggy. That's when he filled me in to say there were 4 dolphins coming right at me in the wave. As I look at my knee I wonder: was it my board that smoked me, or perhaps some part of the dolphin? I guess I'll never know. Two things Bob said he's never seen: a person almost get hit by a dolphin, and a baby dolphin do a backflip out of the water. This was following the near death experience, so Bob said it was his way of apologizing for almost hitting me.

After getting thrashed by a few more waves that day, I finally yelled to Bob, "That's it, I'm finished!!!!" So, we got out of the water and headed back to the van. Here's a picture of the action figure shower we rinse off with every time we surf. I think it's the coolest thing. And another picture of me carrying my board "African style." I swear, my arms get shorter after a surf lesson. I can barely get my arm around the board to carry it back, so up on the head it goes! :)

Tonight, Mark and Sue Wiedenmann invited me to their house for supper. Sue cooked a yummy pan of lasagna, garlic bread, salad, and made chocolate chip cookies (homemade, no nuts, and slightly chilled = my favorite!) oh, and icecream of course. They live in a lovely home up in Palos Verdes. Their two dogs Kelly and Cody played with us most of the night. I love puppies, and these two were stinkin' adorable! Here are the four of them posing for a family portrait! Thank you to Mark and Sue for their kind hospitality and a great night of laughter and sharing!