A flawless morning, the ocean was glassy a slight offshore wind which would have been perfect if it weren't for a lack of swell again. The waves were fun, I think I did something to aggravate my ribs last night while I was reading in bed because they were sore, my knee is all swollen and the water seemed much colder, so it was only a an hour or so surf this morning. There were dolphins again though, and a school of tiny fish that would jump out fo the water sporadically. I had a couple of rides that brought huge smiles to my face, I'm already getting more comfortable once I'm up and going although my wave selection still leaves a lot to be desired. After I caught a good wave and took it in as far as I could go, I did that thing I always think looks cool when others do which is walk off the surf board into the knee deep water, surely I didn't do it with the grace that I've seen other people do it with though. I was walking back through hip high water moving a little South before paddling out out I watched the guy surfing closest to me catch a wave, go to drop in and fall, get thrown around pretty well, or at least as well as a three foot wave can toss you around (which is more than you think). He gave me a big self deprecating grin as we were paddling out, again it's the unspoken gestures that seem to communicate as much as words do in the water. The last wave I caught felt good, a tiny bottom turn, a quick turn off the lip, I tried to slow down to get closer to the miniscule tube behind me, then had to speed up to make the next section, then the wave fell off and I rode the white wash in again feeling it was best to leave on a high note.
Instead of heading back to my Moms house to get ready to leave LA I took the long way home yet again. I meandered through Torrance. The Superior court building which used to be where they had the Torrance rodeo, which of course my father took me to during his cowboy phase and where when they first leveled the ground there and started marking it with flags for construction a friend and I pulled all the flags up to make a bike race track there, we kept getting confused why everyday someone was changing our race track. Past the Plunge, the local swimming pool where I used to spend many summer days, and many summer mornings in forced swimming classes as part of my Mothers campaign to keep Sean and I busy during the summer. Then there was the post Palos Verdes home on Terri ave. After my parents got divorced Mom and Sean and I moved directly down the hill to Torrance, I was there from 6-12 or so. The house we used to live in was in need of a paint job although it looked very much the same as when I lived there. The same brick divider between the drive way and grass and on and on The neighborhood was so drastically changed it was amazing. There used to be a big commercial development full of odd low buildings that did who knows what at the end of the block, which is now all tract houses. There used to be a wide strip of grass that Joe Funk and I would use to play soccer on for days on end, most of the time we'd take shots on goal, and since there was no net let alone goal we mostly tried to kick the ball at the other person so we didn't have to go chase balls all the time. The other houses on the old street were an interesting mix of very recently remodeled while others had never been touched. A couple of blocks away was the Meisel's house, Paul Meisel was one of my best friends and worst enemies depending on the week growing up. He got to second base way before I ever did. Although I do remember trying to slide my hands down Heather's shirt while hanging out with her after school one day. I think I was supposed to ask her to go out the next day, but I didn't and we didn't talk much after that, maybe that was the impetus for my avoidance of one night stands. Then I drove by my old school and Mrs. Jones house, then past Steve's Burgers, which has the best onion rings ever. I even passed an In and Out Burger without eating there, since I'd already had one on Friday. Now I wish I had eaten there instead of at the airport, but it seemed so early then...
My Mothers world is so different than mine, hers is a land of clutter and duplication. She has multiples of everything so she can always find one, thus she is always leaving things wherever she is when she is finished with them. It drives me nuts but it works for her. When I'm there I end up piling things up and moving things around and trying to put things away and I'm sure that it drives her nuts, she scolded me at one point for trying to put stuff away that they use all the time and then she cancelled our plan to clean up the house since it seemed like it would lead to frustration. It's funny that when she is at my house she is so kind about everything and is always picking things up and putting them away, maybe I should be better about adapting to her style when I'm there? But surely it's no surprise to anyone that I'm always trying to have things my way.
Wandering around her house and looking at photos is always fun for me. There are lot of photos of my Mom, Sean and I, a handful of just my brother and I, and a ton of photos that I've taken, and certainly other photos that I don't care about. There is a great one of my brother and I from my long ago wedding (a handful of them of Dana and I relegated to the closest, oddly right next to my surfing stuff so I always run into them, maybe it's a subtle reminder that for everything I've gone through mom has gone through with me as well. ). There is one photo that has curiously been exiled to the garage that I really like. It's taken in Palos Verdes I think, on a rock wall near the edge of our old yard. My father was gone already, it was just me, Sean, and Mom. The hill behind us is bare dirt, there used to be these big leafy plants that smelled funny when you pulled them, and I remember Jimmy and I pulling them all, but surely my Mother had to actually finish the job. My brother and mother are both looking at me and I'm smiling. I look authentically happy in the photo in a way that I haven't seen in many photos since then. I've certainly been authentically happy in photos taken since then, and I think it shows in them as well, but more often I think I have an awkward almost forced smile, or maybe the expected smile, like I know that everyone wants me to smile, and I want to be seen as smiling. I'd like to have that blond shaggy haired, short shorts, red soccer jersey wearing smile I had in that photo more often. I guess that's what I'm always chasing.
I can't think of the last time that I've spend so much time reading, writing and thinking about things and shooting photos. The days surfing was mostly out of the way early and that left lots of time to do other work. It was a great way to spend some time. I'd like to be better about repeating it more often. Next time maybe somewhere new instead of always going back to home, although hell when home is so much fun to go to maybe I should just keep going there.
At home the dog place called to tell me that Bella barked herself horse, the only way to get her to stop was to have a human around her. Dog food was delivered while I was away, an Amazon package arrived, clouds came and went, people came and went, it's all the same and all new. Amazing how a trip away can seem to spark enough ideas to make troublesome parts of life seem better.

Other stuff --

I don't seem to have a phone number that works for O anymore, huh. I missed hanging out with Ron, who next time I'll drag surfing with me. Next time I'll also go to Josh's to get my long board which would be a lot of fun on small days like this week.

The Hill -- my mom lives at the top of a big hill, Palso Verdes is all hills and cliff,s cell phone service there sucks because of it. Two and a half years ago there was a big land slide after a huge rain storm. The house was condemned for a while they couldn't live there for months, then they moved back in but there was a huge pile of dirt blocking their very steep 150 yard driveway. It took until last week for the construction to stabilize the hill and fix the driveway etc. They had to pay this huge amount just to get back to where the house was before, like getting your car fixed afrter someone else hits you,very frustrating. Now my mom is obsessed with re-landscaping it. I keep telling her to plant ice plant, which is supposed to be great for stabilizing hills, but is also one of her least favorite plants. Instead she has all of these other plants lined up. Surely it will look great eventually. Now it just looks like a really expensive hill.

The carpet of the airport where I'm finishing typing this up smells like crap. I got on an earlier flight that was then delayed because of a tire problem. How silly. Maybe it will leave later than my original flight, that would be very apt.

Look forward to less text and more photos again now that I'll be back in Seattle. When I'm home when I sit to write it's almost always more personal or maybe less interesting to the two or three people who might come here. I'm typing this all for myself anyway, so who knows what will be here at any point.

Hey Mom - if you read this and you object to any comments about my trip feel free to holler at me, I had a great time, and I always appreciate your hospitality. And damn, I forgot to fill the gas tank on the Honda, Sorry. Thanks for shipping the box of stuff back too.