Saturday, June 09, 2007

Last Hawaiian Post

As I sit on the tile floor of our Hawaiian apartment writing this post, I know it will be the last from Hawaii. The past several weeks have been filled with the stress of moving 4300 miles across the ocean, but have also been filled with memory-making adventures. We've still got lots to do - including selling the car (hopefully at the dealership tomorrow), cleaning and checking out of our apartment, saying goodbye to friends, and buying our final round of Hawaiian trinkets (and Kona coffee)...

Yesterday I rode my last Hawaiian wave (at least for several years), and it was great. It started out as a washed out knee slapper, but as I made a few turns the wave stood up to about waist high, gave me enough face to drag my hand across, a few more turns, up to the nose, and the wave pushed me all the way to shore. It was a nice send-off from the Pacific.

We took Lucas (or maybe Lucas took me) to see "Surf's Up" the new animated feature about the penguins that invented surfing. I was amazed at how they perfectly animated surfing and showed the true connection that surfers have with the ocean...as well as some of the scary things that can happen in big wave situations (like taking one on the head, scrambling to the surface only to find the next one crashing down before you can grab a breath...repeat). I think this was the perfect day for the movie to open, coincidentally on the day I rode my last wave...

Sharks' cove pics




Shark's Cove





One more time together...





By the time we are next near a body of water that produces surfable waves, Lucas will probably be old enough to get on his own board. This was one of the greatest thrills I've had as a parent, sharing this new and exciting experience with Lucas. Nathan is next...I hope to have a chance to teach him to surf as well. I guess there's always Florida.