11/13
O'ahu - around the corner from Pipeline
Sitting on the beach ... actually laying down at the top of the sand
'dune' created by the big waves ... we are looking down the slope at the
most magnificent pounding surf. The break forms slowly ... barely a
shadow coming in, then it suddenly soars high and slams down onto the
sand.
A group of grom - young teen boys mostly - are sitting not far away
and one or another is rushing down the slope toward an oncoming wave -
and then surrendering his whole body to the lifting, slamming foam. I
first feel grandmotherly anxiety for these idiots ... then ... I see the
pure, undilluted joy ...
Tom says ... 'some people call that bodysurfing;
that is not bodysurfing. It is two seconds of surf pose ... then *whomp*
... that is whomping!"
We laugh at the groms' ongoing antics. Some like
to stand directly under the break with their arms raised high; some like
to roll right into it. All seem to (miraculously) pop up - or swirl up -
for more. At one point three of them rush to the place where the foam is
receding and sit crosslegged on the sand. Tom swears he saw one put his
hands in 'lotus' position. They sit vigil for just seconds before the
next wave hits ... it instantly slams into them and sends still cross
legged bodies exploding backwards up into the air. Their buddies roll
with laughter - as do we from our safe view - and the group begins to try
more variations of the exploit.
We stay and chuckle and sigh til the sun
goes down.
