Civilian Litter Patrol

What is the Civilian Litter Patrol, you may ask? It is an unofficial club that welcomes all people who are interested in making a little difference without a big, organized event to catalyze the action. As a member of the Civilian Litter Patrol you are free to wander the planet, cleaning up any little area that you think needs your help.


All you need is to carry a box of trash bags and a pair of gardening gloves with you in your car at all times. When you pull up to your favorite surf spot and see trash all over the place. Instead of getting pissed off, you can spend a half an hour tidying it up. Well... you can still get pissed off at the trash :)


Take before and after pics to show your work. Share your CLP deeds with others to help spread the goodness. You can be an ambassador of the earth and influence others – all the while scoring points with the waves gods. Brilliant!

I love March

There have been waves ALL WEEK LONG. And I am a crazy woman! After the ass-kicking I received this past Sunday (see previous post), I decided to wait for mama ocean to chill a little so I could get a real quality wave-whoring session in.


So Wednesday, I drove an hour north - thinking everything would be groomed out perfectly but arrived to more big, nasty foamy junk. One place looked semi-decent but there were 50 people out. So I did a crazy thing... I got back in my car and drove south. Two-plus hours back down past my homeland and into Rhode Island.


When I got there I found that one of my all-time favorite surf spots was turning out the goods. Clean, organized, chest high, glistening-in-the-sunshine waves and only a few folks out.


I met up with good buddy and amazing surfer/artist Mike Jackson. We surfed and surfed and surfed. A couple of hours later, he rode a sweet one in and snapped some pics of me out there - which I did not know - and that ended up being an amazing surprise! (The picture above this paragraph is one of 'em!)


Thursday I was back at work and scheming up a way to get another session in locally. A quick departure on my trusty bicycle back to my house where my stuff was ready and waiting and I was off. A new spot, just a half an hour from my house is now under my belt. This place doesn't work too often but she was last nite!


Tomorrow, time to give back a little with the Clean Ocean Access Coastal Cleanup. Maybe there will even be a little something left to paddle around in before the event.

Sweet Ass Kicking

We are in the middle of a monsoonish kind of a storm right now. While, always hopeful for a weekend surf, I was fully prepared to wait out the storm. Of course, this resolve came with plans for taking a "personal day" this week to catch sunshiney leftovers. But a last minute Sunday surf report from a friend was all it took for me to make the drive down.


I got a late start, so when I got there I did not spend time getting pics - just got this one. I knew where to go to get what I needed. So I made the paddle out and pretty much got my ass handed to me! And guess what? Turns out getting your ass kicked by the ocean STILL beats a day at the office. Hands down.

Sunshine Weekend

And the first two lovely sessions of March 2010


This is pretty much as good as it gets. Two solid days of surf with sunshine and warm temperatures.


Weekends like this make me count my blessings.

February's Final Embrace

This was one of the most difficult Februaries I can remember. A combination of regular old winter blues and lack of weekend surf, peppered with just enough missed surf during the week was enough to drive me absolutely bonkers. I counted a total of 4 sessions during the month of February. My final two surfs were on the very last two days of the month.


Little did I know. February still had offerings.


Saturday Session South: A little mushy but sooooo lovable. Surfed a super favorite spot that literally called to me in my dreams the night before.


By sundown on Saturday another spot up north was beckoning. And on Sunday morning, there she was, just as I had envisioned. Clean lines rolling in one after another.


Sunday Session North: This place. This northern cold comfort. Waiting.


Having something I love like this makes me realize there are so many things to be grateful for. I am always amazed that there can be so much pain in the world and at the same exact time, so much goodness. I hope one day to be less mercurial within my own skin. Perhaps I will find that peace. For now I find some comfort in the notion that the more precious something is, the more potent it is and that "now" is all we have.