Dude-

At dawn it's so cold it hurts. It's been that way for over a week. There's been heavy frost on the windshield of my truck most mornings. The cold weather has brought with it a lack of swell. It's winter now and this is plain wrong. The promised land is not supposed to be this way.

At sunrise on Sunday the surface of Monterey Bay looked promising but painfully frigid. In a couple of hours the tide would be right, the air would be warm, and a NFL playoff game would be in the first quarter. It seemed too good to be true. I finished my coffee as a bright sunrise washed the frost off the roofs of the houses by the beach.

I went home and read the Sunday paper, ate some toast, and slowly got ready to go surfing. The phone rang about 8:30. It was William. He wanted to surf. We'd meet at 10AM at the beach. Chris called at nine. I told him what I'd seen at dawn. He'd meet us in an hour. At 9:40 Pete called. He'd be there as soon as he could.

When I pulled into the parking lot the tide was still too high. We hung around a while as the air warmed and the tide dropped. On Sunday there was over a 7 foot difference between the early morning high tide and the afternoon low tide. When it started to happen it happened fast with the tide falling quickly. A graceful set came through. It was time.

While I suited up I saw Lee going whichever way he wanted. He was owning the lefts and taking some rights. Lee greeted me as I paddled out. Another guy was having a good time also. It was running rib high with shoulder high set waves. Everything was right.

Pete was the last to arrive. The two of us got into a grove and took some nice ones together. We'd make it all the way to the inside and smile at each other when it was over. Slowly paddling back out as we'd compare notes on the wave we had just ridden.

We surfed and joked around for 2 hours. I saw William take a backside left to the sand. Everyone got their share of waves. A few more people showed up but it didn't matter. Without planning we all got out about the same time. I wanted to get cleaned up and go home to get something to eat. Leaving took a long time because all of us were so busy discussing the last 2 hours. No one hurried. We stayed and enjoyed the camaraderie and the sunshine. None of us wanted the Playoff Sunday magic to end.

Finally I got in the truck to drive home. An Aqua Velvets tape was in the tape deck. Their hypnotic surf music sound soothed me as I drove along. At home I felt great after a hot shower, some leftover barbecued chicken with macaroni salad and a double espresso.

Next Sunday is the Super Bowl. The whole nation might shut down for the game, but the waves don't take the day off. I'll have to look to see what time the pre-game show starts in relationship to the tides. If this was the NFL playoffs just think what the Super Bowl should be like. It just might be time to go surfing.

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