Moving Pictures

This weekend, my parents are in town visiting.  They haven’t been here for a couple of years, and definitely not since I started learning to surf.  My Dad came with me to watch and photograph the session.  I can’t believe I’m going to VOLUNTARILY put pictures of myself  in a SWIMSUIT on the internet.  (I will probably live to regret this, later when they are cached and I can’t ever get rid of them.)   But.  Whatever.  From these pictures, you will see that if I can learn to surf, ANYONE can learn to surf.

Eight o’Clock in the Morning

It is quite lovely at the beach in the early morning.  In order to be coordinated, though, I have to try to shake the cobwebs out of my head.  Getting doused with a big wave assists with that.

Walking out with Surfboard

Nancy asks me “Did you practice this week?” (As in, did I practice my popups?) “Ummm. . . no. . ” I say, sheepishly.” Even if I HAD lied, it would have become painfully evident in about ten minutes that I had not practiced, so I decided to just come clean.

Break in the waves. Practicing relaxing.

Right after I kicked Nancy in the stomach climbing onto the board she said “KATIE. YOU NEED TO RELAX.” Now, Nancy is EXTREMELY chill. Like, nothing fazes her. However, my death grip on the board, combined with lack of practice, combined with kind of big waves (for our neck of the woods), must have gotten to her because she did speak in ALL CAPS. I went limp. I floated. “That’s better,” she said. “Just yell at me to relax,” I told her. “It might seem counter intuitive, but my yoga teacher always has to remind me to relax and it does work. Eventually, I’ll do it on my own.” Plus, it is kind of hard to hear over the waves. Yelling is OK.  Something clicked because I rode a nice little one in on my tummy.

On the surfboard, riding a wave on my tummy

For a while (and this is DIRECTLY RELATED to my lack of practice), I was putting my arms too far out front of myself. I scooted them back, and IMMEDIATELY had much more success in ALMOST getting up.  You can see my arms coming straight down from my shoulders, instead of at an angle.

Almost up on the surfboard. I finally got my arms back where they needed to be so that I can get my right foot up front.

Nancy is saying ALMOST!!!!

Or she is saying “WHY did TRACY get the tiny, waif-like, professional dancer first-time surfers?” (Maybe Nancy lost the coin toss?) No, actually, the tiny dancer surfers are the nieces of this guy who lives next to Tracy.  The girl in red is one of the new surfers. (Side note-if I want to be a “Cool surfer chick” I should ditch my ponytail.  I don’t have enough hair for that.  But I digress.)

The "NEW" surfer in red. (Her first lesson-my fourth. She got up.) But, you can tell that I am happy. I have a HUGE grin on my face in this picture. That's the important part.

So, in addition to my proud Papa taking pictures, my friend Marla came out to watch. Marla said my blogs had just about pushed her over the edge to learn to surf. She did say that, after watching my lesson, she thinks she is ready to learn. It was a little freaky to have an audience actually paying attention to me, rather than casual observers from New Jersey that I will never see again. (Even though I can’t see without glasses. Neither can Marla. In a fit of profundity not to be repeated today, I told Marla “It isn’t about seeing as much as it is about feeling.)

We got out of the water and talked to the tiny surfers and Tracy. Tiny surfers live in Chicago, and this was their first time out.  Marla asked them “Do you feel tired, like at all?”  Wisely, Tracy said to them “Say yes.  Just say yes.”

Going to get another wave

Well, I know that they weren’t tired, but I was, and took a little break on the beach before going out and swimming some more. Nancy’s got her eye on Craigslist to help me find a board. Note to surfers: If you have a longboard you’re trying to sell, leave us a comment, ’cause we’re looking.

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Katie Elzer-Peters is a freelance writer living in Wilmington, NC. Her writing and PR business, The Garden of Words, L.L.C. serves clients all over the world. She’s learning to surf this summer, and blogging about her experiences for Chicks on Sticks.