Nothing day

Today was a waste of time, surf-wise, one of those two-steps-back days.

I spent an hour again trying the popup in the living room. I was able to get up to a low crouch, feeling very unbalanced. My surf goal was to try this on a wave. I have never gotten up in a crouch on a wave. Could I do it?

I never got to find out; there was just no chance. The waves were again small and a bit choppy. I was able to catch lots of waves, but once I did---well, I just don't know what happened, and that's the truth. I just know that before I had enough time to think of what to tell my arms and legs, I was off the board and in the water. I did not get up at all, except once on my very last wave of the day, and I fell off that one in a second.

I am leaning very much toward making "slow reaction time" the reason/excuse why I can't surf and the way I get myself off this hook. And though there may never be a way to test this hypothesis, it may be true. I just can't think as quickly as normal folks, and not quickly enough to make the decisions I need to make to surf.

Days like this are what make the fun-to-work ratio of "surfing" so dispiriting. I have got to, just GOT TO, find a way of increasing the amount of joy, fun or satisfaction I get for all the wasted hours I put in, not just in sessions like today's but in all the commuting time, etc. In other words, I've got to make the "surfing" more efficient, or quit wasting my time and energy.

The high point of today was seeing D. on the beach and catching up with him. We haven't talked in ages. He travels a lot and doesn't usually come out when the waves are small and crappy like today. Those of Grandma's generation, remember that Mary Tyler Moore song? "Who can take a nothing day and suddenly make it all seem worthwhile?" Well, nothing could make today worthwhile (did I mention it's pouring rain and cold as well?) but he made it better.