When I got to Boulder, Colorado a little less than a month ago, I realized something. As much as I love the beauty, solitude, and marijuana of the mountainous Colorado country, it would be way better with a beach. For the first time I felt a little clastraphopic that a large body of water was not nearby. I made up my mind to get to the Oregon coast as soon as possible and dedicate the next several months learning how to surf.
It took a few weeks to get through Yellowstone, Montana, Seattle, and then for my surf board to arrive. But I have it. The past couple of days I have been wiping out up and down the scenic beaches of Seaside, Oregon.
I have never had so much fun failing at something. It takes a gut check in Jiu-Jitsu to not let your ego get bruised when your training partner pulls some slick choke while coach is watching. Taking shit and falling off your board from a big wave is like all of the best parts of a fatal car crash without nearly as many downsides.
As a kid I loved thrills, especially in the water, but more than anything surfing reminds me of a reckless game me and my siblings would play. We would gather up all of the blankets and pillows in the house, pile them onto the couch into a big mountain, and then knock the whole thing down while sitting on top of the mountain diving head-first to the hardwood floor to be buried under a thick layer of laundry. The game was called "avalanche". That particular excitement I had then is finding its place in this new sport.
For now, I will remain on the Oregon coast as I get better at this. I have been pinballing across the country for the past 3 months. I had a ton of fun and have learned a lot on this by-the-breeze adventure so far. But for now I have a desire to slow down, take root in one place, and really let the area grow on me. There are many ideas that I have not yet written down or given word to, and Oregon feels like the perfect place to think about the things I want to formulate.