Schadenfreude

Yesterday was bombing, overhead and more, and all I could do was watch and hope that one day I'll be up to that. Today was quite manageable, though not so well shaped by the time I got out.

I got a couple of very nice, long rides right off, which did wonders for my confidence. Once in a while, I do something that feels like what everyone is telling me a popup feels like...perhaps it's a popup, though I haven't got visual confirmation on that yet. All I know is, it felt like fun.

There were, as usual, diminishing returns after that, but I still did OK. Got rolled when I took off too late, tried to remember my surf instructor's advice to wait to paddle til later than I am accustomed to. Does that make sense, I am taking off too late, paddle later? Maybe it's a bit mixed up, maybe I'm not describing it right, but it describes something real.

I am seeing my new board everywhere! Two other people had the same board today. It's a great conversation starter in the water. One of the guys with my board (same color, different size) was an even worse surfer than me. You know that term, schadenfreude? (Did anybody see Avenue U? Oh, probably not). It means glee at another's misfortune. It's part of the human condition and it certainly applied today. I loved, loved that this guy didn't even know how to sit on his board. And that he was older than me and more clueless. He looked like me, four years ago. I even started giving him tips. I had to restrain myself from offering him lessons. He even sounded like me four years ago: "I am determined to be up and turning by the end of the summer." Hmmmm. Of course, he might make it. But I hope not.