A Few Pictures in Passing

I tried to get the cat to take a sniff of the crab, but he was smarter than that. I was giving the old crab one last stretch before he went into the pot. 

Sunset sail on the Bay.

The ladies are enjoying the view from the bow.

Mark and Ben debate whether or not there is enough wind.

BOO! Check out our lame  Halloween costumes...I'm the 'Pulp Mill' and Justine is dressed like her mom 20 years ago....

All is Well in Humboldt

I don't want to rub anything in, but we have had some good surf around here for the past week or so. It has just been fabulous W/NW swell out there, it's been long swell lines and glassy conditions. The size has been in the chest to occasional over-head bomber waves. I've been surfing some seriously quality waves lately and I haven't surfed with more than a handful of guys out the entire time. 

On Saturday morning I drove around for almost an hour before I found a spot with another guy out. I ended up at the little rocky cove up north surfing 6-8 foot waves with two other guys. It was good to surf some juicy waves with consequence, I was starting to get a little lazy with workouts. There came a point on Saturday when I was caught inside during a sizable set. I could tell that there were several waves to roll through still and the large, barnacle covered rocks along the shore looked rather unpleasant to make contact with...I was pretty much running on empty and there came this voice in the back of my head that said, "I told you that you should be doing more push-ups". I ended up taking the rest of the set on the head and paddled back out for another hour or so of waves.

Since Sunday, the swell has been perfect for the beach right by our house. I'm sure it's still breaking as I type, but I needed a morning to catch up on news and reading. I really need to be on top of my game, events and politics wise, so I can keep the banter at the bar going.

Life has been good around here though. The past days have been great. I'll surf until almost noon, warm shower and then head into the bar for a day of shooting pool and pouring beers. Weekends are filled with beach days, sailing, and grilling out with friends. Last weekend my buddy brought over several dozen oysters and I was given some petrale sole. Nothing is quite as tasty as fresh, local seafood grilled out with good friends after a day filled with waves and sailing. 

I've been getting lucky lately with the food freebies. In the past few days I've been given two turkeys, dozens of Dungeness crabs, and more fresh fish than I can handle almost. Thanksgiving is going to be a good combination of classic Hoosier fare and fresh, local seafood.

I've been going on and on about how good things are here in Humboldt County, but apparently things are falling apart elsewhere in the world. I guess it's a combination of the usual bullshit of the world, typical media over-hyping, and gross government ineptitude. I won't piss and moan about things though, there are plenty of people doing that already. Plus, I start to feel like a real jackass when complain about all the wrongs in the world and overlook all of the great things that are happening. The US economy may be in the dumps, but we're all still way above the average person in the world when it comes to ease of living. Whenever the media hypes every little problem into the next world ending disaster and almost brings me to the point to total despair, I think back to the words of Hunter S. Thompson (I'm pretty sure)..."Pay attention to the media sparingly and then only for entertainment".

Election Day 2008

Happy Election Day everyone. Get out and vote. Or if you're like me and already sent in an absentee ballot, sit back and watch all the people wait in line on TV. Enjoy listening to the media bemoan how certain voting precincts have lines causing people to wait in line for hours and hours on end. Of course those horrible lines are caused by evil Republicans hoping to disenfranchise poor minorities and young people. It certainly couldn't be the fault of the individual election committees and certain precincts being organized and staffed by incompetent nincompoops. 

Our choices this year stink, or at least the two main party candidates stink and it'd take an act of God for one of my beloved third party guys to win. By the time I leave the bar tonight (working not drinking), the media is going to let us know who the President Elect is and I'm not excited about the prospects. It really sucks that the media pretty much blacked out any exposure for third party candidates. I don't know if you guys really looked over your ballots, but out here in CA I had the ability to vote for a number of non-mainstream candidates. Great thinkers and politicians like Bob Barr, Alan Keyes, Ralph Nader, and Cynthia McKinney (she's  kind of crazy) ran for President...but didn't get the nod from the media or any air time. I mean, honestly, the 24/7 media says the same damn thing dozens of times a day. Why wouldn't they recycle their clips less and get some different ideas out there. Nader and Barr were polling nationally at 5 or 6 points a piece and they didn't even participate in the debates. It's absolutely stupid that 'Joe the Plumber' gets to run his mouth on every station for a couple weeks and actual third party candidates can't buy five minutes on TV. I mean how silly is it that those guys are placed on the ballots in most states and they aren't even allowed to participate in public debates. These debates are even set up by the government (Presidential Debate Commission), but I digress...

It always boils down to Republican or Democrat, but the two major parties are so diluted and weighed down by phoney-populist ideas and corporate cronyism that nothing really ever changes. I mean, if you're serious about Republican ideas, i.e. smaller government, less government interference in your personal life, etc...then you should have voted for Bob Barr, the Libertarian candidate for president. And if you are serious about Democratic ideas, i.e. bigger government, more social programs, etc...then you should've voted for Ralph Nader or Cynthia McKinney. If you are an 'Independent', then Alan Keyes is your man. If this is the first time that you've even heard that there were more than two candidates running, then I'm sorry to tell you this,but you've had your head up the mainstream media's ass for the past several years. I suggest that you immediately turn off CNN or Fox and seek out other sources for information that are not controlled by large multi-national corporations.

I'm sorry to go political on you guys. I'm just getting frustrated with the status quo and I'd like to see things get mixed up a bit. The debate has just become so mundane and dumbed down. It's all about sound bites and knee-jerk reactions. Oh well...I guess the beauty of America is that anyone can make the change happen and get the ball rolling. It all starts locally.

If you're still reading, thanks for letting me rant and vent. If you think I'm crazy, then you should go to the link at the bottom. It's my favorite author's publishing companies website. Read through some of his essays.

Stay tuned for more adventures. There is a solid NW swell filling in and the weather is clearing up around here. The weekend is almost here and I have a feeling that a trip is in the works.

http://www.banditobooks.com/ezine/home

A Quick Trip To San Francisco

A couple weekends ago we decided to take a spur of the moment trip down to San Francisco. We decided on Friday afternoon to go and took off early Saturday morning. We went with our good friends Mark and Casey and scored a sweet hotel right in the Union Square district. Our hotel window looked right out onto one of the busiest tourist streets in the whole town. We had cable cars, taxis, and all kinds of craziness going on 8 stories below us. It was a funny experience. It took all of my restraint to not drop a water balloon or something down on someone. While in the city, we crammed all kinds of fun stuff. For some reason the pictures never seem to do the trip justice, but here they are anyway...

Justine and I have taken tons of trips down to the city and we'd always seen this bar, high atop the city skyline in the Drake Hotel...Harry Denton's Starlight Room...We finally made it there on this trip and enjoyed a cocktail, some dancing, and the view. The skyline of the City is pretty amazing.

An activity as simple as walking through the streets at night can be quite exciting. There are all kinds of sights and sounds. San Fran is chock full of weirdos and free-spirited people. We spent Saturday night bar hopping and looking for some good salsa music to dance to. 

After a night of rubbing elbows with more Californians than you can shake a stick at we were ready for some breathing room and a cheap beer. Our hotel room had an awesome view out the windows, but the window over the bathtub was especially great and well suited for swilling beers and people watching. The cheap beer wasn't actually that cheap though, a six-pack of Redstripe ran around $18. You can drop $100 in a few hours in the city. 

Alcatraz Island...It doesn't really look like any place I would want to be stuck. After a good breakfast Sunday morning at the best breakfast spot in the city, we walked around Fisherman's Wharf and took in some views of the bay.

Mark and Casey both skateboard, so it's only natural that we'd take our boards with us. After a night crammed in with a bunch of people we decided to visit Golden Gate Park and go for a skate on the paths. Golden Gate Park is San Fran's equivalent to Central Park, but a bit bigger. Within the park is an area called the 'Japanese Tea Garden', we'd always wanted to check it out. It's well worth the time. 

The nice Japanese guy that ran the place warned us not to skate...but they needed a picture. Notice Mark in the background pondering the beauty of the place. The whole 'Tea Garden' is set up really nice and is landscaped beautifully.

There were several of these pagodas in the garden. Apparently a monk would live in one and ponder existence until he figured things out. They are all exact replicas of one in Japan. The park was originally built in 1894 for a California Exposition, many of the pagodas from that time still survive.

More pagodas, looks like Justine is taking time to read the sign and admire the little coy pond that ran along the paths.

Most of the garden was landscaped in this manner. It was pretty spectacular. The pictures don't really do it justice. It'd be awesome to see that park in the spring when everything is blooming and green. 

This bridge is sweet. It's been around since the 1890's, it was built in Japan and the brought over to San Fran as a gift. 

After the Tea Garden and some more skating around, we headed for our last stop...the Haight and Asbury district. The district is kind of the spark for the whole counter-culture movement of the 50's and 60's. The Grateful Dead called this place home, as well as a host of literary giants. People like Allan Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, Ken Kesey, and Neal Cassidy lived and wrote here...Writers, I would argue, mainly responsible for the whole change in our culture during the 60's. It still has that flavor, but the genius has been mainly replaced by wanna-be hippies and bums. For me, it's kind of disheartening. All of those writers were into the whole drugs and alcohol scene, but they didn't let it take hold of them. They used that energy to create a whole new literary genre and movement. The people who are there now are into that same drug and booze thing, but they are little more than bums parroting 40 year old ideas and begging change off people. I just want to slap a few of those hippies with copies of 'On the Road' or 'Sometimes a Great Notion' and tell them to get off their asses and go have an adventure.

After Haight-Ashbury, we were ready to head back to our peaceful home in the redwoods. A trip into the City isn't complete until you stop for the best fast food ever though, In and Out Burger. It's honestly the best burger I've ever had anywhere. I'm seriously going to miss In and Out Burger (it's a West Coast only franchise). We stopped at one outside the City and provisioned for the 4-5 trip through no man's land. I had to get 4 burgers to make the trip.

It really was a great trip. The pictures don't do it justice at all. After a while, you just forget to take pictures and just enjoy the ride. It was great to take a trip with another couple. Justine and Casey could do all the shopping they wanted. Mark and I would just pop into a nearby pub and grab a frosty brew and bullshit about life until they were ready to mosey on down the street to the next shoe store.

Stay tuned for more adventures and ramblings. We have some good trips in the works for our last couple months in Humboldt and then it's across the country and onto the next adventure. God Bless.

Along the Mendocino Coast

Last weekend Justine and I headed south to the Mendocino County coastline for little camping and relaxation. We needed a little break from the fog and bums which seem so prevalent in Eureka. I understand why we have so much fog, but I just don't understand why we have so many damn homeless people around here. We live a couple blocks from the bay which just happens to be where the fog lingers and the bums languish, so needless to say...By the time the weekend rolls around, we're ready for a change of scenery.

The Mendocino County coast is an absolute gem. The defining feature of the coastline is the rocky headlands and coves that string along the coast. Driving south along Highway 1, you cruise along the edge of a cliff a couple hundred feet above the pounding surf. Most of the road lacks safety rails, but it's a fun road to drive in our little Honda. Anytime I'm driving along the ocean, I'm on the lookout for a wave to surf. There was a 4-7 foot South swell filling in along the coast, which is pretty much a perfect set up for Mendocino's rocky points. I saw plenty of good, solid waves with nobody out...so I did what any sane Hoosier turned surf bum and waited until I found a spot with a couple people out. I didn't want to be the first guy from Indiana to get nibbled on by the 'GrayMan'.

The area around Fort Bragg and the town of Mendocino is a collection of state parks and national seashore. We had visited the area a couple times before for quick hit and run type visits. Fort Bragg is a sleepy, dying logging town attempting to transform into a vacation town. It's on the way to being somewhat of a mecca for cold-water free-divers.  Mendocino (the town) is a quarky, artsy town that sits on the Mendocino Headlands. It's definitely a great place to visit and have a walk around town, step into some shops, and have a pint of locally brewed ale. 

Justine and I made a quick pass through the towns and headed out along the coast to find a decent campsite away from the weekend crowds. State Park campsites are packed on Saturday nights with RV's and families, so we opted for a campground off the beaten path. We found a sweet campsite nestled amongst pine trees and within earshot of the crashing waves and the odd barking sea lion. After we secured a good campsite and set up our tent, we headed into the town of Mendocino for a pint of brew and to wait for the marine layer to burn off. There is a little pub called Dirty Dick's, which pours only local microbrew and offers sweeping views of Mendocino Bay and the Big River estuary from the bar stools. After a couple pints, the fog burned off and we had an afternoon of sunshine. We headed down to the beach at Big River. I walked out to the beach, took one look at the waves, and then headed back to the car to pull my wetsuit on. Justine opted for a good book and a soak in the sun.

The waves were decent and I had the lineup to myself. After my surf, we headed back to camp and lit up a bonfire. One of our favorite parts of camping is always cooking over an open fire. Justine had picked out some delicious ribeye steaks, sweet potatoes, and french bread for dinner. After stuffing ourselves, we retired to our lawn-chairs and basked in the fire. We took in the sound of the fire crackling, sea-lions barking, and the smell of the cool salt air mingling with the smell of a cedar fire.

We woke up early Sunday morning, packed up camp, and headed out to look for a little breakfast joint we'd heard good things about. We ended up finding the cafe, but it was closed for remodeling. Plan B turned out to be a typical greasy spoon diner. After breakfast we needed to walk off our biscuits, gravy and french toast. We headed to Jug Handle State Park and took a trail that followed the headlands around and offered views of more coves and more sea-life. I know it sounds like all we did was look at ocean stuff, but it really never gets old. The ocean is always different and the views are never quite the same. There is something awe inspiring about looking out into that vastness. We ended up finding this little cove that didn't have footprints in it and scrambled down a gully onto the white sand. We spent the morning poking around the seaweed and taking it all in. 

After Jug Handle State Park we headed down the road and I talked Justine into pulling over at the Point Cabrillo Light Station to have a look around. We've been to enough historical sites to be weary of them, they are usually filled with loud bitching kids, beleagured parents, and crusty octagenarians. We braved the parking lot and took the half mile stroll out to the Light. It was cool, it had all of the historical stuff that you'd want in a restored lighthouse. The original buildings were restored and filled with artifacts. The Light Station itself was decent, it's definitely no Cape Hatteras, but it does sit on a cliff a couple hundred feet above the surf.

After the stroll through the Light Station, we headed out to find a new campsite to stash the tent. I'll let you in on a little secret about scoring prime camp sites. Go claim a site around 12:30 in the afternoon, most campgrounds make people leave around noon if they aren't spending the next night and most people don't start looking for a spot until late afternoon, so that means there is a plethora of open sites for the taking. Go find the best spot, drop your tent, claim the site and then head out for your afternoon of fun. When you get done with your afternoon of fun, your prime spot will be waiting for you and you can spark up your bonfire and watch the suckers that waited until the end of the day drive past and look upon your site with envy.

We camped out at Russian Gulch State Park, which is known for it's prime diving, ocean bluffs, and hiking. We spent the waning hours of Sunday afternoon lounging on the beach and playing fetch with a dog that belonged to the other couple on the beach. I was seriously tempted to pull on my wetsuit and spear a fish, but the wind picked up and the water clarity died. We opted for a hike out along the bluffs and through the forest. 

Sunday night brought another campfire and a fire cooked meal. Justine grilled a stuffed chicken breast and I had a slab of lamb. Another great camping trip was coming to a close. Justine and I swilled beers around the fire and thought back on all of the great times we'd had along the way. 

I'll be the first to say that I'm so thankful for my marriage. Working at a bar, I hear all kinds of shit talked about marriage and whatnot. It goes in one ear and out the other, because marriage is such a team effort. Justine and I always joke about having a 'team building exercise' on our trips. It's a polite way of saying we need to figure out a way to work together and make something happen when an adverse situation comes our way. Our team building exercise this trip was only having one headlamp. For some reason we only had brought one flashlight with us. Now next time you are out camping, try cooking a somewhat gourmet dinner in the dark with a single light. It takes some teamwork and it'll work your communication skills. We made it work and had a blast doing it. 

It's funny because we've been on this strange adventure referred to as marriage for a couple years now and we still feel like we're honeymooning. Maybe it's because we're living out here in California with only a couple friends and we're traveling around all the time, but I also think it's because we have this mindset about life-like we're not going to fall into that trap of everyday life. We're not buying into the crap you see everyday on TV that boils down to keeping up with the Joneses. I feel like we have this great hybrid of Hoosier upbringing combined with this Tom Sawyer-esque romanticized idea of what an adventure life can be. 

The noble author and his wife, posing above the cove at Russian Gulch

Justine trying to get a peak over the edge at Jug Handle State Park

Can you see me out there?

Point Cabrillo Light Station

The parting shot

.231

Well, last night I watched a lady get arrested for a DUI outside of my house. It's ironic because last week I watched a similar lady go to trial and kind of fight a DUI charge. The situation was interesting, I had just gotten home after spending almost 8 hours at our neighborhood bar. Now before anybody starts to 'TSKK TSKK' from afar, let me clarify...I tend bar until 7p.m. or so and then I'll usually BS for a bit with my boss (think Jimmy Buffet-but a commercial crab fisherman and not quite so charming), but I digress. I had just gotten home, unloaded some CO-OP produce and cracked a beer when I noticed police lights flashing outside of my house. I felt it was my civic duty to put down my beer (I didn't need any trouble) and sit outside on my porch and observe the whole situation from afar. I would want somebody to watch out for my rights and whatnot if I were ever to find myself in a similarly miserable situation.

The whole thing took maybe 20-30 minutes. I watched the lady do all of those tests you hear about. She stood there and played twenty questions, while getting flash-lighted in the eyes by a big 20 year old jock with a gun. She touched her nose, while closing her eyes. She walked heel to toe along a cracked sidewalk. She even did some weird balance type exercise that I'm thinking about incorporating into my half marathon training regimen. She stood there for long time and I thought she looked sober as a freaking bird, but then after all of that song and dance...The cop pulled out the 'Breathilizor' and she blew twice. I heard that cop tell her that she blew three times the legal limit! She blew a .231! I know legally that is way, way boozed up (in the 'legal' sense of boozed up). Let's just say that each drink an hour is worth a .03 or.04 and your body metabolizes one of those cocktails every hour.  That would mean that after 3 drinks in an hour, you would be in the ballpark of .09 or above...which is technically above the limit. That means this lady had 6 stiff drinks in an hour and then set out to head home. Or maybe she had 10 drinks in 2 hours and then decided to mosey on home via automobile. Anyway you shake it, she would have had to have tons to drink. Now, as a bartender, I am around a ton of people who drink  lots of drinks and are basically fine, save their gratuity skills, but that is neither here nor there and I really thought she looked good to go. When I heard the cop tell her that she blew 3 times the legal limit, I was blown away. I don't want to sound doubtful of the cop, because he did seem reasonably professional, but if that lady was 8 drinks deep-then I am deeply ashamed of my bartender-esque ability to pick a drunk out of a crowd. A quick search of the subject spits out tons of information about Blood Alcohol Level and the corresponding affects on the body. According to the University of Rochester, a BAC level of .21-.29 will result in 'stupor, loss of understanding, impaired sensations, severe motor impairment, loss of consciousness, and memory blackout'. Now as an observer to the whole situation, I find it extremely hard to believe that the lady was that boozed up...but in the words of W.C. Fields, "I've never been drunk, but I've often been over served".

Just to clarify my opinion, I think it's a real jackass move to drink and drive...but I also think that cops can be a bit overzealous about things from time to time. Everyday I see people come into the bar and have a drink, socialize with friends, and unwind a bit before getting on with their day. Almost everyone of those people are responsible about the whole situation, but it only takes one idiot to have a few too many and ruin their day or someone else's life. In the end, I can't feel too sorry for that lady...If she had money for cocktails, then she should have had money for a cab.

A Few Pictures, Some Thoughts, and A Ramble or Two

Early fall temperatures and relatively calm seas bring tuna within 30 miles of our coastline. Fishermen will go out for a week or two and fill up their boats with tuna. Tons of tuna equal great prices for us. We bought fresh albacore tuna for about $2 per pound straight from the dude who reeled it in. We grilled a couple pounds of it after soaking it in a secret soy/teriyaki sauce of my own creation, wrapping it in bacon, and skewering the tuna and pineapple chunks together. 

A couple of weeks ago, Justine and I made the drive down the coast to the little village of Mendocino. The first half of the drive weaves through the redwoods and the second half of the drive is along the coast. The drive is pretty amazing. Vistas like this are pretty much the norm. We're getting spoiled with all of the scenery around here.

Last week we made the drive up to Eugene to catch an Xavier Rudd show. We stayed at a little hostel and enjoyed some great food and beer. Eugene is a great mid-size town. It's the home of University of Oregon and the Eugene City Brewery. The town is clean and people were on bikes everywhere. The show was spectacular, we were front and center. Xavier Rudd was rocking out a couple of feet in front of us. 

Here's a random picture from the Humboldt County Fair. Justine talked me into riding some crazy Ferris wheel type ride that spun you around and upside down. I almost lost my corn dog.

Thoughts and Rambles

I was forced to spend the past few mornings at the courthouse performing my civic duty of serving on a jury. I would guess that I'm allowed to talk about it now, since I am no longer on the jury or rather I never even made it into the jury box. The past three mornings (almost 12 hours total) I sat in a courtroom along with 60 other citizens and watched a jury get chosen for a DUI case. It was interesting to see the system working, but disheartening to see how dysfunctional/wasteful the system is. It took 3 mornings to pick a jury for something as minor as a DUI case, I'm pretty sure the whole process shouldn't have taken longer than one morning and needed to include maybe 30 people at maximum. It seems like courtrooms and DMV offices attract a similar ilk of people, meaning scruffy weirdos come out of the woodworks. The first morning I got there 20 minutes early, wearing my Sunday best. Talk about sticking out like a sore thumb and calling myself out as a rookie jurist. During the first break I snuck across the street at picked up a couple surfing magazines to keep myself occupied for the remainder of the mornings.

I never made it into the jury box and I'm pretty sure that the District Attorney would have used a 'peremptory challenge' on me. I don't think a bartender is the type of juror a prosecutor would want in the box on a DUI case. Especially a bartender who thinks that our Fourth Amendment rights are being eroded away at an alarmingly high rate. I get the feeling that the defendant was taking the case to trial because she was contesting the results of the Blood Alcohol Level analysis tests. The defense kept asking prospective jurors about their opinions/experiences with computer testing equipment. I gather from the questions that the lady took several different blood alcohol tests and they all came back with different responses. A quick Google search of 'BAC testing' will spit out tons of websites dedicated to espousing the problems with most BAC tests. I don't want to get conspiratorial about the whole issue because people do die in drunk driving accidents, but it does seem like certain people profit from stricter enforcement and whatnot. In the NY Times a few days ago there was an article about how the law enforcement union (31,000 members in CA alone) was trying to recall Arnold the 'Governator'. A quick Google search of them will also yield reams of information about how they are trying to increase the penalties for all kinds of crimes...I mean doesn't that seem a little fishy, the people that profit from the prison system are lobbying for harsher penalties for all kinds of crimes, most of them victimless. But I digress...

Have you guys been following Presidential Election? Silly question...If the GOP wants my vote, they are going to have to tell Sarah Palin to come up with some new material. I mean, I get it-You got rid of the governor's chef and your kids were pissed, you gave yourself a pay-cut and your husband was pissed, and you sold the jet on EBAY (it really sold at a private auction for a loss). She just doesn't seem like someone I would want representing our country. I mean look where electing a good ol' boy got us...Do we really want a good ol' girl stepping in the office next?

Purdue lost this weekend. Two overtimes and they still couldn't get things done. It's ironic because a week prior to the game I was up in Eugene and I was thinking that the University of Oregon looked like a pretty nice college. If I would have known they were going to pay back my kindness and tourist dollars with such an insult, I would have littered more and maybe left a steaming dump on the steps of their stadium.

That's all for now. Keep on keeping on.

Sailing on Humboldt Bay

Taking Control of the Tiller

Prepare to Tack

Cruising the Marina

It's always tough to re-adjust to life here in Humboldt County, but healthy doses of surfing and sailing are keeping me sane.

Ten Days into a Month of Vacation

Getting set for a swing on the rope

Roughing up Ol' Lucky 

A juicy little Sunfish

Three Kings and a Cat

Ten days down, 20 more days to go. Vacations always seem to take forever to happen and seem to last but brief moments once they start. Days tick by like minutes and weeks just melt away. I guess most people in America take less than 10 days of vacation each year. How do most people survive? I'm taking a solid month off and I still feel rushed in my relaxation. My wife and I are currently staying at her parent's house which is perched on the shores of a pristine lake in Northern Indiana. I wake up each morning to the sounds of birds chirping and fall asleep each night to frogs croaking. Generally my day consists of a leisurely read of the news over coffee, a morning swim, more leisure time during which I fish or read, then an afternoon swim and bake in the sun or perhaps a drive through the countryside, and then once the late afternoon begins-the beers begin to flow and the fish start to bite. It's really a rough way to spend a couple of weeks...

Indiana is a beautiful place. My parents and my wife's parents live a dozen miles apart, both in rural Hoosier farm country, and driving between the two houses affords spectacular scenery. The country side is rolling farmland planted with corn, soybeans, and alfalfa. Everything is green and alive. Cows laze about the pastures during the midday heat and everything smells fresh and clean. Life is good in Indiana, especially during the summer, when you're living on a lake and don't have anything to do.

 

Enjoy the pictures. If I can pry myself off the dock, I might write more later...But don't hold your breath.

A Number of Thoughts

Ahhh, I finally have some breathing room and a little more leisurely schedule. I'm done with substitute  teaching and coaching the local high school swim team. I've moved on to bar-tending the day shift at the local watering hole and surfing/fishing as much as possible. I was pretty much done dealing with the local school system here, I was getting thoroughly disrespected money-wise. I mean, it's absurd that I make more bar-tending than I did teaching and coaching for 50 hours a week. What kind of horse crap is it when a guy makes more money pouring beers than shaping minds? I guess it helps when people are constantly sliding $1's and $5's your way for stiff drinks and good pours. Teaching would be more lucrative if kids were sliding you dough after a solid lecture on the finer points of realism in Sherman Alexie's writings on the plight of Native cultures of the Pacific Northwest. But then again, most jobs aren't rewarded monetarily equal to the value they give to society. Think about it...teachers, social workers, cops, firemen, etc...make so little money compared to the guy that warms the bench for any pro sports team. I guess it's just a reflection of priorities within society. But the beauty of the free market is that it's technically possible for anyone to make that jump into the 'filthy rich' tax bracket, but until that point I'll make sure to watch my budget. 

Bartending has its perks, mainly cheap beers and no early mornings. I've  been lucky enough to enjoy a number of good morning surf sessions lately. There is just something amazing about hitting the water before your day starts. It's so pleasant to cruise the coast with coffee in hand and AM talk shows on the radio. Our coast here is so rural, it's almost absurd that I'm able to take in all of this beauty in one morning drive. A five minute drive takes me through the donut shop, over the bridge and to the crazily fickle beach break in front of Eureka. I'll stop there, for a quick check, and then 90% of the time I'll head north to Camel Rock and reliable waves. The 15 minute drive north through cow pastures gives me a chance to catch up on NPR and Neil Boortz, two polar opposite opinions on the radio waves. I don't know if you guys ever listen to Neil Boortz, but you probably should (www.boortz.com). He's a staunch Libertarian and Constitutional law expert. He gets pretty heated about stuff these days. He is all about personal responsibility and personal freedom. It's interesting to compare him to Amy Goodman, who is a host for NPR. Amy Goodman has a show called "Democracy Now" and it is the pinnacle of bleeding heart liberalism. Most of the shows revolve around the mantra of "Bush lied, people died" and other topics which involve expanding the government's influence in our daily lives. I don't know if it is my Hoosier up-bringing or my distaste for government involvement in my daily life, but I really don't want Uncle Sam's hand guiding my life any more than it is. In the essay 'Civil Disobedience', Thoreau states that "Government is at best but an expedient". He further states the government that is best, governs least. I heartily accept that statement. I would much prefer that free market principles shape our society, rather that the heavy hand of Uncle Sam. 

Sorry to go from surfing to politics, but that's the way it goes sometimes. It's just about two weeks until the Lady and I are able to enjoy a solid month of vacation time. Nothing but lazing about in the Hoosier sun for a couple weeks and then some more beach time on the Outer Banks. I know it sounds funny, but it seems like life is one long vacation right now. Don't get me wrong-we work all the time, but after growing up in Indiana, there is just something about looking out the back to mountains and being a few minutes from the ocean. It just seems unreal, even after a year or two. Last Monday, for example, I spent the morning catching waist high peelers with views of cliffs, coves, and the best Northern Pacific wildlife everywhere around me and then in the afternoon I went sailing with a good buddy (also a former Hoosier) for the better part of 5 hours. I mean, it's no wonder that I walk around with a permanent grin. 

Because of the Times...

Sorry it has been quite sometime since my last posting. Life has been busy. I've been travelling and working, burning my candle at both ends...as the saying goes. In the past few weeks, I've been down to Santa Cruz, San Fransisco, Chicago, over the river and through the woods, to the Lost Coast, and dozens of day trips in between. Meanwhile I've also been teaching full time, coaching, and bartending. Life has been busy, to say the least, but it has been good. Stay tuned for more insane pictures, descriptions, and biting sarcasm about life and politics...

Pictures from a Weekend Warrior

Weekends are beautiful, glorious things. They happen on a fairly regular basis, but they're never long enough or close enough together. My wife and I try to stuff absolutely as much fun into ours' as possible. Here are some pictures from our past few...

College Cove is a good beach to go to when the north winds of spring are blowing and the surf elsewhere is huge. After a winter of rain and wind it's nice to kick back on the beach with a Hunter S. Thompson book and soak in some sun and salt spray.


Nothing beats a beachfront campsite with a backdrop of Sitka spruce and redwoods. How much would you pay at a hotel with a view so good? There's a pretty nice little beach break wave just out front.

The van does kick serious ass, but to quote a friend 'it takes an oil field to move that thing". Justine and I clearly needed a small, fuel efficient car. Here's the beauty we picked out. It's a 2008 Honda Fit and it's get triple the MPG's as the van.

We went for a drive along a rural stretch of coastline last weekend. The whole drive was through pasturelands with views of the Pacific Ocean, farms, and distant snow capped peaks. It's reassuring to see undeveloped stretches of coastline. This cow has to have one of the best views of any bovines. I don't feel bad about eating him, he's had it pretty easy.

Exploring tidepools pretty much kicks ass. It's part science lesson and part bouldering. It's always interesting to play around on exposed rocks with an incoming high tide. I wouldn't recommend it to people with agility issues though.

What can I say? I love building driftwood fires. There's just something about the smell of cedar mingling with the salt breeze that makes a day at the beach complete.

Weekends...

There is nothing quite so satisfying as leaving the Monday through Friday grind behind for a weekend of fun and relaxation on the beautiful North Coast. Justine and I each put in very full work weeks last week, so we needed to get out of town, breath some fresh sea air, soak in some sun, catch some tasty waves, and generally revel in nature. Saturday morning we woke up, threw some gear and beer in the van, grabbed some bagels, and pointed the van north. Just over an hour later, we were weaving around lagoons and past redwoods, trying to decide if we'd rather hike and then camp on the beach or if we'd rather surf and then camp in the redwoods...I know it sounds rough, but those are the toughest decisions we try to make during the weekends.



We decided our best bet was to catch some waves before we made any more decisions. so we headed towards Crescent City CA and the friendly waves at South Beach. South Beach is a wonderful little anomaly of our coastline. The beach is south facing, so the north winds which clear our skies up during the winter and spring also groom the surf into classic offshore conditions. The beach is protected from the massive swells which reel down the coast from the Gulf of Alaska, so it makes for a pleasant surf spot. The wave itself is generally a gently rolling beach break, a very beginner friendly wave and fun spot for longboarding. The beach is a very scenic, to the south lie several large cliffs which fall into the water and are covered in a number of hardy trees which thrive in the temperate, moist, salty climate which defines our region. To the north, lies the harbor of Crescent City and beyond is the Coastal Range.

Justine and I both quickly struggled into our wetsuits and booties. I don't know if you've ever put on a wetsuit, but it's a rather touchy enterprise...more so for ladies who don't want to bare skin for other beach-goers. I take a rather indifferent approach to it, if someone driving by happens to catch a glimpse of my nether region...well I apologize. Justine on the other hand, thankfully, is very methodical about suiting up.


The surf was allright, it was decent size, but the shape just wasn't there. The waves were breaking in sections, instead of peeling down the line. It was a beautiful day though, with the sun shining and the smells of the forest and ocean mixing together. After a couple of hours spent splashing around in the brine, we paddled in, got out of our wetsuits (an ordeal...), and plotted our next move.


We decided to drive a bit down the road to camp on the beach and have a bonfire. Lucky for us, South Beach has one of the best selections of driftwood ever, so we filled the back of the van with as much wood as we could squeeze in between the surfboards and sleeping bags. After a much needed pee stop, we were off through the redwoods and to another almost deserted beach. Since I mentioned it, a pee break that is, I'll digress about the importance of not peeing in your wetsuit or while surfing. Now I'm all about peeing in the water most of the time, I'll pee in the pool, the lake, just about anywhere without a cop or a lady within site, but never in the Northern Pacific. There are a number of accounts from people who have been bitten by Ol' Whitey that the last thing they did was take a leak while surfing. It doesn't seem to bright for a mammal to pee in the water when the main predator hunts by scent. Anyway...

We camped Saturday night at Gold Bluff Beach, just north of Orick and within the boundaries of Redwood National Park. The campground has maybe 20 campsites and I bet it gets busy during the summer, but it's March and we scored a great campsite and only had to share the sunset with a few other people. There is something spectacular about camping on the beach. Bonfires seem larger, beer tastes better, and the stars shine brighter. We were hungry after our long day of surfing, frolicking about the beach, and walking through redwoods. Luckily we planned ahead and brought some steaks, veggies, and artisan bread to enjoy with our local microbrews. I felt like something different, so I brought along a thick slab of lamb to roast over the fire. Lamb roast over a driftwood fire is just about the most delicious thing I've ever had to eat. The smells of sizzling lamb mingling with the cedar smoke and salty sea air, well you'll have to try it for yourself to understand. After dinner we stoked up the fire and lounged back in our lawn chairs, trying to take it all in. Stars came out, the ocean roared, the fire crackled at our feet and all of the crap that we went through in order to make it to the point in our current lives where we can have experiences like this became worth it.

Late that night, we decided to walk to the edge of the world and peer into the vast nothingness which is the Northern Pacific at night. Now I know you are thinking that you've been down to the beach hundreds of times at night and it isn't anything incredibly mind blowing, but come out here for a visit sometime. I'll take you out to that desolate stretch of beach which is close to nothing besides mountains and trees and wilderness, we'll walk down to the edge of the ocean, and I'd be willing to bet that you're heart may skip a beat or two as you strain your eyes to see out past the rolling white breakers that constantly thunder towards you. There is something incredible about the way the beach feels at night. The sand is cold, the wind blowing off the ocean is cold, and the water is absolutely freezing. It's just a completely inhospitable environment for something as frail as us humans. I remember going for frequent night swims when I was living on the Outer Banks, a few of us would just kind of walk down to the beach and take a dip, or maybe body surf. The thought of going for a swim that night made me shudder. I guess 45 degree water and 15 foot surf changes the equation a bit.

The next morning, we woke up early and boogeyed out of there. The park charges 15 bucks per night for each campsite, which I feel is a bit steep. The ranger didn't come around the night before to collect the cash, so that meant he'd come around early the next morning to ticket those who didn't pay. After a couple summers of frequenting campgrounds pretty constantly we knew the drill pretty well, so we woke up early and scrammed before he came around. We used the money for a delicious breakfast at our favorite little diner in Orick.

After breakfast we headed towards a redwood grove we had yet to explore, the 'Lady Bird Johnson Memorial Grove'. Good ol' Lady Bird Johnson visited the area in the 60's and felt the majesty of the redwoods firsthand. After her visit, she became a vocal supporter of protecting the remaining old growth redwoods. The trail is short and has an interesting self guided tour pamphlet available at the start of the trail. It's a good trail to take your time on and really take it all in. It's one of the few trails through redwoods which offers ocean views. We made quick work of the trail and headed back south towards our home. It was another glorious, beautiful, sunny Spring day in Humboldt County...and it is only March.

On the way home I stopped to surf in Trinidad. The surf was mediocre at best, but it's always good to get wet on a sunny day. Just south of Orick we had checked the surf at a long stretch of beach along the highway, it was spectacular there...but I wussed out and decided to wait and surf a more familiar break. I figured if it was that good there, how great will it be farther south. I'm still kicking myself over all of those barrels which went unridden, but there is always another wave. That's the thing about waves, as soon as one passes by, there's always another one starting to roll in...right behind it. Kind of like weekends...You just got to have the patience to make it through the lull of the work week.

Uhhh Ohhh...The Government is Taking Over...

Your kids belong to the government apparently. Here's a very recent article concerning a person's right to educate their own kids versus the state's right to educate your kids...

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/03/07/MNJDVF0F1.DTL

Here's a quote from the California Supreme Court decision...See if reeks of communism to anybody else...

"A primary purpose of the educational system is to train school children in good citizenship, patriotism and loyalty to the state and the nation as a means of protecting the public welfare," the judge wrote, quoting from a 1961 case on a similar issue.

I would think that kids should be taught things such math, science, reading, perhaps some art classes, and maybe even a gym class or two...but apparently the educational system exists for a more Orwellian purpose (George Orwell, 1984).

It may be time to start looking for a decent sail boat, save some travel cash, and get the hell outta dodge before proverbial shit hits the fan.

Politics, Surfing, and Beer Slinging

On Woeful Underfunding

I'm back at work subbing today after a week without work, due to Eureka City Schools celebrating President's Day for an entire week. An entire week off for President's Day?...If it seems a bit overboard to you, then we're in agreement. It's funny how different the school environment is out this way. I would postulate that the attitude of the students is directly correlated to the amount of money spent on the schools here. For example, the physical buildings are falling apart and teachers out here get paid crap (I suppose the state of affairs is pretty similar in a majority of places). Just to throw a number out there...I get paid a meager $75 per day to substitute. It's funny because there are never enough subs to fill all of the absences (so I cover two classes a day, but get paid the same), yet the powers that be refuse to bite the bullet and raise the pay level.
I also started coaching the local high school swim team and who would have guessed, but the pool sucks. It's a relic from the 1950's which has been kept alive purely on the janitor's ingenuity. I have swum in more pools than I can remember and I shudder to think that someday I may have to hop into this pool to demonstrate proper butterfly technique or lay down the law in games of water polo. This pool is bad. The paint (lead paint with my luck) constantly flakes off into the pool and on especially humid days I keep my rain coat on in order to avoid the indoor precipitation. The water clarity usually hovers around that of skim milk. And I especially love it when I arrive at the pool to find a thin layer of bubbles on top of the pool...maybe it doubles as a bubble bath for the basketball team. I remember my early days of high school swimming. Our practice pool sucked, it was a nasty cesspool of hairballs and snot. And guess how we treated it...Like a nasty, nasty pool and it affected our work ethic. But what happened when we got to swim in a nice clean, well-lit pool...We hammered out hard practices and we felt like achieving great things. The same thing goes for schools...When kids are herded into windowless leaky trailers for English classes, how does that affect their work ethic? I'd venture a guess that it doesn't make a lecture about prepositions and dangling modifiers any easier...

With the previous rant in mind...Why/How do teachers put up with people constantly pissing and moaning about how our youth are falling behind the rest of the world? On the news it's always "American youth are now ranked somewhere in between Estonia and Honduras in math and science"...I mean, what do you think is going to happen when you don't spend money on education. I was reading last week about the way in which other countries treat their education systems. European countries like Sweden and Norway (consistently ranked in the top few countries education wise) spend serious cash on their schools. Once a teacher enters an education program, the government funds their education. I'm not really in favor of that happening. Strong government/public schools is the 10th plank of the Communist Manifesto...
The bottom line...The public needs to put up the cash to make schools work or shut up and let the free market take care of things...i.e. private schools.

On the Surf
My wife was gone last week taking a massage class in the Sierra Nevada's, so was l left on my own for about a week. I spent my time searching for solid waves, reading, and slinging beers. The surf around here has been big and burly for the past week. Often it wasn't the problem of finding the surf (there was way too much), but the issue was finding a wave that wouldn't result in me getting my ass kicked by good ol' mother nature. Last weekend we had a run of classic conditions. It was sunny, mild, offshore winds, and a long period 6-8ft swell. It was about as good as it gets around here. For three days straight I would wake up, go to the beach and surf the entire day...and I mean all day at the beach. After hours and hours splashing around in the brine I would go into the bar and sling beers to the wonderful variety of folk who frequent the dingy little establishment that is Jo's Little Red Lion. The state of mind that results from surfing until your arms are noodles and then working until 2am, all to do it over again the next day, is interesting to say the least...
I remember my the last wave I caught on Sunday rather vividly, I've resurfed that wave in my mind countless times this past week. It was the last wave of a big set that had rolled through and cleaned up the line-up. The line-up refers to the big group of surfers massed in the same general area, waiting for pretty much the same waves. In pictures and from a distance it looks like we're all good buddies out there, having a blast, and stoked to see each other...In reality though, it's 40 individuals all trying to catch those 8 waves that roll through every 4 or 5 minutes. On this particular set I got rather lucky, the 3rd and 4th wave that rolled through was way bigger than usual and caught most everyone off guard, except for me. I barely made it through those waves, but I was in perfect position for the last wave of the set and nobody was around the challenge me for the wave. Several hard strokes and I was in, after a huge bottom turn I was right in the pocket and hauling ass down the line. It's hard to describe the feeling of going really fast on a wave...There is all of this energy around you. Underneath your board you can feel the water slipping by, beside you is a wall of water, behind you is the barrel...Slow down just a bit, slide your back foot back just a bit, just enough to slow you down, tuck your head, crouch down a bit, and SILENCE...Look up, look over your shoulder, just take it all in, you're in the wave...I couldn't tell you whether I was in the barrel for 2 seconds or an hour, but judging from the fact that I made it to work on time I'd say the two second guess was closer to reality. But the fact remains that when you're surfing that's all you're doing...On the wave you aren't wondering about dinner, or taxes, or if Hilary is gonna beat Obama...all of that crap doesn't matter...all that matters is the wave, your board, and the energy that is pushing you forward...Oh and watch out for that big rock just under the water...

On Slinging Beers
Justine and I were talking about what we want to do this summer and we came to the conclusion that we needed more money, so I picked up a couple nights of bartending to supplement my meager income from teaching and coaching full time. It's funny how entertaining it is to bartend. People tend to pour out their life stories and problems to the guy behind the bar, especially after a couple pints...But it's not just people needing someone to listen to their problems, it's old guys who just need someone to hear them ramble about their past adventures. The bar is somewhat seedy and it seems to attract a lot of commercial fishermen, so that gives you some idea about some of the stories I hear...I'm gonna put some effort into this listening thing and get some good stories, this stuff needs written down. Everybody always says history is written from the perspective of the winner. Some of these guys have done some crazy stuff and the only place it's recorded is in the memory of some sunspotted, wrinkled old salt of a fisherman.

Solid Surf Ramble...

I was surfing at Patrick's Point/Agate Beach a couple Sundays ago and I experienced the worst beating/hold down of my surfing career. It's funny how crazy it is to paddle out in such big and powerful surf. The waves were in the 15-18 foot range and were solidly breaking. Patrick's Point is a point break and can handle big and powerful surf, while Agate Beach is a beach break. Both spots can handle a solid swell without turning into a washing machine, but they both get challenging when the swell gets above the 10-12 foot range. I was surfing with my best friend Adam, who recently moved out this way from the Outer Banks, NC.

We checked Patrick's Point as a last resort, all of the other spots we checked were maxed out and simply too churned up to facilitate good, clean waves. We decided to check the point as a final chance at surfing on a day in which the ocean was going crazy. There was a storm up off of the Alaska coast which was sending powerful swells our way. The Humboldt coastline sticks out like a sore thumb off the California coast, so we get the brunt of most swells. It can be 12-15 feet here, but 4-6 feet at points south during the same swell. The fact that most spots require a bit of a hike to get to, the water is way too cold (45-52 degrees year around), and old Whitey is constantly patrolling help to thin the crowds out a bit.

Every other spot was way too rough and we wanted to surf, so we decided that we could paddle out at Patrick's Point. Waves look deceptively rolling, glassy, and inviting from far away and on top of a cliff; so we decided to paddle out. We were both riding fun shaped short boards, so the overhead shorebreak was easy to duck-dive through. Once we made it out to the actual mackers we discovered that it was actually freaking-huge.

Maybe you don't surf, but you can at least appreciate that mental anguish that comes from paddling out in way overhead surf, in cold water and realizing that you are supremely out of your element. I grew up surfing the warm and small waves of the East Coast, so I'm still getting used to the powerful, large surf of the Northern California coast. I've surfed big swells since I moved here, but they are mostly point waves. Point waves break in a predictable fashion in mostly uniform lines, beach breaks are anything but predictable. At a beach break, you'll be sitting there...watching the swells come in and suddenly you'll realize that you are right in the impact zone (I call it the 'bone-yard'), so you immediately begin a sprint-paddle to a safe area outside of where the wave is going to break.

Now, let me let you in on a little secret...Surfers choose boards depending on the waves they want to surf. A longboard works great in small, rolling waves; short boards work great in head high surf; but in serious surf, most surfers will bring out their 'guns' for surf which requires serious paddle speed and solid 'cajones' to ride. Adam and I are poor, so we have limited boards to choose from. I was riding a short board and Adam was riding a semi-longboard. The point being that we were riding the wrong boards for the conditions and fully relying on our swimming ability and guts to ride the large waves which were rolling our way.

The first wave I caught was solid. There is something about paddling into very overhead surf. The energy that is present in the ocean on big swells is something everyone should experience. Just think about everything that goes into that wave...Storms which are thousands of miles away generate untold amounts of energy which is translated into open ocean swells, the last bit of that energy goes into the wave, and I'm all about catching that last bit of energy as it unloads onto a random sandbar on a bit of isolated stretch of Northern California coastline...

In two hours of battling the ocean swells and currents I caught three waves and took a couple of solid beating during which I was held under for minutes and resigned myself to the noble death which comes from following dreams which few dream. I grew as a person and as a surfer. During one particularly heavy hold-down I thought thoughts which come only to those which put their ass on the line and accept what may come. I attained a level of thought during those minutes held down, under the roaring surf, under the slate grey sky, under the murky blue water, far away from where I am comfortable, which I couldn't find all throughout college...I felt alive, I felt the need to be alive, the desire to live and pursue life...

I am alive. I will pursue life. I will follow my dreams. I will overcome. People always talk about limitation and things preventing them from taking that next step. I was underwater in 45 degree water, in 15 foot surf, undergunned and just trying to breath...and I realized that I can do anything. If I can survive this...Can't I survive the 9-5? Can't I survive taxes and budgets and deadlines?....