Here is the surfer girl’s 5^th saga…

It was a bright, shinning day and my thoughts were filled with visions of sun, water, waves, and rides.  I was wondering if it would be worth driving all the way over to the other side of the island since we have had a virtually flat summer and fall season.  But, the urge, the drive, the desire to catch a wave was just too strong.We packed up the truck, loaded the board, and jumped in for the long journey.  As the truck curved around the west corner, I was dismayed at seeing the flat, flat, flat water, but endured, in hopes that rounding another curve of the road would bring the long awaited waves.  We pulled into the parking lot in front my favorite little surf spot.  And, behold, a nice, smooth set is rolling in.  I jump out of the truck, stand on the edge, searching for more waves…the set ends, not another one in sight…it just can’t be, there has to be more…the debate begins, should I just paddle out even if it means sitting forever for just one ride, or should I just pack it in, forget it, and retreat?  The debate running through my head like ice water slipping down your throat on a hot day, begging, hoping, praying for a sign, any sign, just a sign…sure enough Mother Nature answers…another set, just a beautiful as the first, comes rolling in.  That’s it, that’s the sign, I’m going in.As I’m preparing myself and my board I notice several groups of people around me that I didn’t notice previously.  To the right, the group of regulars that surf this spot every day; to the left, another group of locals, but new to me.  I’m thinking, it’s been a long time since I’ve hit the waves, do I really want to embarrass myself in front of these surfers…hhhuuummm…but again, Mother Nature must have read my mind because the next thing I know they are all hopping into their vehicles and pulling out.  Thank goodness.I slowly walk down the rocky edge, to the sandy shore, tiptoe into the water, bbbuuurrr, it’s a little chilly, put the board in the water and jump on.  I paddle out, and all the same feeling come rushing back.  The excitement of catching a wave, the fear of getting crushed, the peacefulness, and the overwhelming feeling of becoming one with nature, with Mother Nature.  I’m all alone in my one little spot.  There is no one to share a ride with, talk to, or think about.  I push up and swing my legs up into a sitting position.  I sit and watch and enjoy the sun, the water, and the view.  Just as I wonder how long I’m going to be floating out there waiting, a nice, easy-going set is in the horizon.  I swing my board around, plop down, and get ready to paddle.  As I look over my shoulder, I see it, I start paddling, and next thing you know, I’m popping up, standing, riding the first wave.  It was the loveliest ride I’ve ever had.  How sweet is it to catch the first one on the first day back in, like forever?!I paddle back out, sit up, and wait.  The next set isn’t too long in coming.  I press myself, telling myself to wait and be patient because the first wave in a set is not always the best ride, the next one may be better.  I wait.  I see it coming and I paddle, paddle, paddle…up I go, catching another sweet ride.  As I swing back around, I wave to my entourage.  I’m feeling pretty good about myself.  Feeling pretty confident.  It is like riding a bike, one never forgets.  That’s the one cardinal rule a surfer must always remember and never break…never, and I mean never ever, feel overly confident, because if Mother Nature gets a whiff of that she will surely strike.  You never know how she may strike, it could come in the form of huge, out-of-control waves, or choppy water which is brutal to paddle through, or a complete change or weather, or who knows what else, but I do know not to cross her.My punishment is waiting just over the horizon.  I spend the next half hour off-balance, unable to paddle hard enough to catch a wave, and struggling to paddle back out after my failed attempts.  This is when I start doing the whole self-talk thing.  I know I’m only saying it in my head, but I wonder if others could hear me would they think I am nuts?  I play back the scenes from the surfing DVD.  I restate all the phrases, hints, and words that help beginners to get into the right position to be able to stand up.  Let’s start over, from the beginning.  I pull my board into position, realign my body on the board, look over my shoulder, paddle, paddle, paddle, push-up, pop to knees, left foot, right foot, hold the rails, find balance, slowly stand, remember to transfer pressure and use arms to turn.  Boy, that was a lot of work for just one ride, but it gives me the feeling that I actually can surf, so I suppose it is worth it after all.  As I paddle back out, feeling happy and content, I see a pretty big set coming.  I’m too far inland to turn and ride, but not far enough out to float through it.  Great, this one is going to crash on my head, I’m going to be turned upside-down, eat sand, and all that goes with a crushing wave.  I paddle hard, hoping it will give me enough power to push through the top of the wave.  Here is comes, I’m nervous, I react on instinct, paddling until the wave is almost on top of me, then I grab the rails tight, push up, and hold on for dear life.  Water over comes the board, hitting me in the face, burning my eyes, burning my throat, pulling at my suit.  I close one eye from the burning sensation.  I can’t focus.  I can’t really see.  Oh no!  Here comes the next one in the set…I’m so not ready, not prepared, and it is so strong it almost knocks me completely off my board.  I barely hold on, with one blurry eye open.  I clamber back up, try to adjust my position, pull my suit back into place, and try to paddle.  As if!  It seems like 15 minutes later when I finally get out of the path of the set into a safe place to rest, but in actuality, it was only a few minutes.I sit on my board, cursing the wrong sunscreen for running into my eyes when the water made contact, and try to wipe it away with my wet, seawater hands, which, by the way, doesn’t help.  Should I retreat, just call it a day, and go in?  I can’t see, I can’t paddle, I’m getting a toe cramp, and who knows what else.  Boy, I’m glad that family stubbornness can be a good thing sometimes, and it kicks in now.  Besides, it’s another one of those cardinal sins to paddle in, a surfer always rides in, never, never, ever paddle in!  I turn the board, sit, and watch the horizon.  I notice the clouds in the sky.  I watch the boats and the parasail.  I look at the other islands.  I find that peace, that peace that washes over one when out in Mother Nature, alone, vulnerable, carefree.  I’m soaking in the environment, the peacefulness, the joy of being on the water.  Whoops, maybe I shouldn’t get that caught up because a huge set is coming…oh crud, hurry, hurry, turn the board, come on, turn the board, no, not facing left, facing straight, facing straight.  Paddle, paddle, but I’m not right on the board, too bad, it’s too late, paddle, paddle, or wipe out.  My arms just start rotating, my hands start digging, I’m paddling.  I look over one shoulder but the wave is too much to bear.  It is so big, maybe it would be better to not look.  OK, look over the other shoulder, it’s got to be smaller on that side.  Here it comes, paddle, paddle, paddle, paddle, push-up, knees, left foot, right foot, hold the rails, find balance, stand…oh no, oh no, come on, find balance, find balance.  AAAAHHHHH, if falling, fall like a starfish, fall like a starfish…as if I have any control, please.  Wipe out, hold breath, hands up, open eyes, OPEN EYES!  Eat sand, drink salt water, find the surface.  Hurry, hurry, get on the board before the next one comes crashing down.  I barely make it back on my board before the next big one is upon me.  I don’t have time to do anything, but just hold on and pray.  You’d think that after that wipe out, I’d head back in, heck no, can’t end on a bad one, now can I? Back out I go.  Sitting on my board, taking it all in, just hangin’.  Boy, I think that wipe shook me a little more than I originally thought.  All the things other surfers have said start popping up.  You know, there is Vana on the bottom and if you touch it, it will burr itself in so deep that you’ll need surgery to get it out.  Sometimes it is so toxic that not only can you get really sick, you can lose that part of your body.  It’s awfully shallow out here today.  I think one could stand and the water would only be knee-deep.  Better keep my feet up.  What’s that, what’s that?  I swear I see a shadow under my feet.  Turtles do not swim in this spot so there is no way it is that.  Maybe I should just pull my feet up.  Out of the corner of my eye I catch something moving in the distance.  Is that a fin?  If it’s a fin that means there is a shark attached to it.  That one dude said he’d surfed on several occasions with sharks off in the distance, but none ever came that close to him.  I search, and search, and don’t see anything.  My imagination is getting the best of me.Just forget all of this nonsense, concentrate on the surfing.  That works for all of a second, when I see something floating under me.  This spot is known for Man-o-War.  The one and only time I was bitten, it hurt like nothing I’d ever felt before nor do I want to experience that again.  It can’t be that.  There is no way.  I take a closer look, again, my imagination is getting the best of me.  There is nothing down there.  Just get over all this, it was a minor wipe out, no need to freak out!I take a deep breath, get in position, and enjoy catching the next wave.  As I ride, I try to turn left, but my board is lagging.  Now how can a board lag, it’s not like it’s a car, now is it?!  I hustle back out to catch another ride.  I catch one, ride one, then tumble off, out-of-control, unbalanced.  The board flips over.  What’s that on the fin?  There’s a huge slice in it.  Let me take a closer look.  Oh my gosh, I’ve been surfing with my fin cover on this whole time.  How lame is that?!  After removing the cover, I paddle out, catch the next wave, and imagine, to my surprise, the board turns with ease.  Maybe surfing without the cover works just a tad better!  The rest of the day sailed by with no serious events, traumas, dilemmas, or issues.  I caught many more waves, tumbled a few times, sat waiting, and enjoyed.  Mother Nature was kind to me once She put me in my place.  As I drive away, I can hear the faint whisper of her calling me, reminding me to come back again real soon, that She’d be waiting for me, waiting to give me the ride of my life.

We have a 6-8 month old, male, altered last week.  ”Shasta” is unique in coloring…pure, snow white for the majority of his body; dark orange stripes and rings on his blondish colored tail, and then patches of dark orange/light orange checkers and stripes.  He is very strong, nice body, very muscular.  He is a little shy, but friendly, he actually will start crying if he does not know where everyone is or can’t find anyone.  He does not hiss, bite, or scratch, unless provoked.  He likes to be in the same room as everyone else, but he is not always into anyone touching him.  I’ve been working with him to socialize him.  He is doing pretty good.  I can pick him up and hold him/pet him…he’s not thrilled, but will stay with me for 15-30 minutes.  Yesterday he allowed me to pet him where he was without me having to make a big ordeal out of it.  He was bolting every time anyone came even close to him, but now he stays and just watches to see what’s going to happen.  He plays with the other cats and has adjusted to them perfectly.  I think in a week or so, he’ll be able to allow people to pet him without having to “corner” him or such other things.  He is a good looking guy, with a nice personality.  We would like to see him get adopted too-he deserves a nice family.  He should be ready for adoption by the end of November.  If you know of anyone, send them our way!

“Sapphire” will be ready for adoption on the 24^th if her surgery goes as expected.  She is between 6-8 weeks old; is slate gray with some beighish-orange hair scattered throughout, and a couple little white paws.  She is pretty sassy.  She will definitely tell you how it is and what she thinks!  She cuddles and purrs up a storm.  She plays with the other cats and with me.  I bought her a little stuffed animal because she was without her Mother so long she was feeling very blue.  I was hoping that if she cuddled with it, it would help her feel safe and secure.  She loves it, sleeps with it, plays with it, and tries to clean the fur as it is all knotted!  She learned how to use the litter box in just one time.  She likes the formula but is eating kitten food too.  She likes the bottle once or twice a day but the rest of the time she likes to use a bowl.  I think she is a great little girl! 

Sticks got a new cast but it is a little different now.  It is not the large one going past his elbow.  It is like a half-cast.  There is a brace/splint on the side of his leg where he is turning it upside-down and it bends out.  His paw sticks out on the bottom and the cast only goes as high as the first joint in his leg past his wrist.  This, we are hoping, will make him build muscle in his leg since it atrophied from the previous casts.  We are also hoping that it will force him to put his paw down the right way rather than on the side or upside-down.  He is limping a lot more than with the other casts, but I think it is because he actually has to use his own muscles now so he is fatiguing.  It hasn’t slowed him down either…he has figured out how to jump on top of the kitchen counter, then the refrigerator, then the top of the partial wall.  He hangs one foot over each side of the wall and thinks he is the new King!  Since he has figured out how to climb, we can’t keep him down and he goes everywhere!  He is a little demon!  We call him “wild boy”.  He is pretty happy though because we have two new rescues currently.  This has made him overly excited as he romps with them.  We have to get on him for being too rough/hard with the little girl.  The adolescent boy is maybe a month or two older than he is so he is not much bigger.  Those two get a long famously.  They roll around doing somersaults, they play chase, and wrestle.  It is pretty funny to watch.  New pictures are up on my blog now. 

PECentral’s National Challenge is a wonderful program for students to master various skill challenges.  The National Challenge is allowing 3rd graders to join the 4th and 5th graders in participating.  There are currently 7 challenges for the students to master.  Students mastering 6 skills earn a Gold Medal; 5 skills earn a Silver Medal; 4 skills earn a Bronze medal; and attempting even one will earn an Exceptional Effort Certificate.  All the skill challenges are available to view on both the PECentral website and http://www.mauitechgirl.com