surfing.

In an attempt to restore my spirits, and mostly because I have always wanted to, I have spent the past few days trying to learn to surf. I like it. I normally go to a break that has less consistent waves because there are less surfers there and I don't have to worry about stealing someone's wave or falling off my board and mowing over some child. This, however, means that I spend a lot of time sitting on my board waiting for waves, at which point I discover that I am out of position when the waves finally come (crashing down on my head).

All this sitting on my board gives me plenty of time to enjoy the ocean and think. Mostly I think about sharks. And shipwrecks. How did little Pi, Robinson Crusoe, Luis Alejandro Velasco (Story of a Shipwrecked Sailor), William Adams (Samurai William) all make it back to land after their disasters at sea? How did they ever survive? I am tired, burnt, and very thirsty after a mere hour on my surf board. Plus they had those sharks to worry about.