I dropped into this perfect wave on Wednesday morning. I was the furthest one out.
There was no question to anyone sitting out in the line-up, that the wave was mine. I had laid claim to it by simply being the furthest one out, and being the closet to this particular wave. It was to be my last wave. I was going to head in after this wave. As I swung Big Black around, I heard a few hoots. I was after all, surfing with people I knew. I was deep enough to have to work the board into the sweet section. But not too deep to be in trouble. As I came into the
mid section of the wave, I noticed a lone figure slightly inside and on the shoulder, he was frantically paddling for the very same wave I was riding, and in
complete control of.

"Hello. Helloo. HELLO-O-O-O!" I stated. He looked right at me and paddled harder.

So I raised my voice a little. "Hello!" Hey...hello?" Nothing. He paddled even harder.
"HEY! HEYYY!!! WHOAAAA!!! HELLOOOOO!" Still nothing. But now I am gaining speed.
I am at the critical point where the wave is bending and the thing is going to throw. It
was going to get hollow. "Hello???" Nothing. He finally catches the wave and drops in, and falls right in front of me. I am forced to straighten out, but not before I watch the empty
hollow barrel, unwind towards the shore. My last wave, was riderless. I was pissed.

As I paddled back out, I caught up to the culprit and asked him straight up.

"So what part of me saying "Hello and Hey" didn't you understand?" He just looked at me with a stone cold silence. "That's it? You're not going to say anything? What, you don't understand me?" Nothing. He just looked at me. With a grumpy face. "You have nothing to say?" He just stared at me. I shook my head, and paddled out past him. When I got outside people asked. "What was that all about?" I shook my head again. "I don't know. He wouldn't talk to me."

Who was he? "He", was an old guy on a shortboard. I know. I know. That sounds bad.

Those words don't gel with most of you. "Old guy on a shortboard." Truth be told, that's
exactly what I am on some days. I am, "an old guy on a shortboard. " Hell, I'm an old guy on
a longboard. But, I'm not an old asshole on a shortboard, nor am I an old asshole on a longboard. Well, maybe I am to some people. But to most. I am just an old guy. This guy looked miserable. I almost felt bad for him. But then again he looked so grumpy and so miserable, that I felt like I had a right to be miffed. And admittedly, I was.

Look I was not looking for a confrontation. Hardly. I was looking to go in. That's it.

I wanted and needed to get back to work. I am in the water enough these days without
the need to milk every swell. I fill my daily quota and leave. I am not a glutton out there.
I am not competing. I just want to catch a few, and share a few like everyone else. And less anyone thinks that I was already getting my share when this happened, that was not the case.
I had just paddled down to where everyone was sitting, after surfing alone for the first hour. The spot I was surfing shut down. Still, I did not have an attitude.

I did not purposely paddle past everyone, and then sit the furthest outside and set the
tone. Hardly. I never like it when someone does that when I'm out surfing. That's too aggro.

In fact, I let the first few sets roll through and past me before I even paddled for a wave. I was sharing and taking my spot in the line-up. It just so happened, that the wave I went for, was one of the better ones of the day. That's not being a glutton. That's being lucky.

But apparently "Grumpy" could not handle that. He wanted my wave. Grumpy wanted "Lucky's" wave. Only Lucky was not about to give it up.

But something weird happened directly after this incident. The sets stopped coming. I swear. For a full 20 minutes to a half hour the sets just stopped coming. It was as if Grumpy or me Lucky caused this lull. And not just a lull, but the kind of lull that makes everyone paddle in 20 yards. You know the kind. The dying swell lull. I wanted to yell over to Grumpy and say "You see what you did. You caused this. Now we are all suffering because of your aggro negative attitude!" I wanted to say that, but I didn't.

Because, what if the lull was my fault?

What if whoever, or whatever was causing this lull was teaching us both a lesson? I didn't
want to mess with that vibe. So I kept my mouth shut. I hate being in a negative mood when I'm out surfing. I think we all can relate to that. I think of surfing as the ultimate good feeling activity. And it can quickly change by the acts of others. Or...yourself. I did eventually get my wave. And I tried to forget about Grumpy as I headed for home. That old guy on a shortboard.

I guess I was still sore from the day before. What? I didn't mention that?

Oh hell yea, I got hurt the day before when the surf was just a little bigger. And the irony of me getting hurt was...I was just talking with Lenny Nichols about how you can get hurt in any size surf. The old saying of be careful of what you wish for. Or something like that. I wasn't exactly wishing to get hurt. But before we go any further here, I didn't get really hurt. Just banged up and bruised. It's not like I broke anything.

So what happened? Well I got hit by my own board. My long board. Big Black.

I was sitting out in the line-up when a younger guy on a long board who was sitting further out than me, backed away from the set of the afternoon. I was sitting inside and tried to spin and go. I caught an edge and pearled. I fell down in front of my board and caught the board in my elbow. Then I went over the falls and my board hit me directly in my chest. When I came up I was tangled in my leash and the wave behind it thrashed me good and held me under. I got
hit and then held under. When I came up the second time, I was dizzy from the spinning
under water. This was not my first wave of the day. Hardly, I had been out for a while when this happened.

But if there's one thing none of us should ever do, it's end a session on a bad note.

So I paddled back out and sat outside after that, rubbing my elbow, and my chest, and fighting that nauseous feeling. I was hurting. But more than that, I was embarrassed. How the hell did that happen? How does anything happen? It just does. Freak accidents in surfing are as old as the sport itself. It's just that Lenny and I were just talking about it. I need to be careful of the subject matter I choose to speak about while out in the water. I don't need any "bad juju"
while I'm surfing. I can't afford it.

This week coming I will hit the 265 day mark on Saturday. That means only 100 days to go.

I can't afford to get hurt, or sick, or anything else that could mess me up. The next 100 days
will be a test. I think it's safe to say that I made it through the winter. I don't think any weird vibes are gonna cause some freak snowstorm now. Nah, the last chance of that happening
was the April Fools Day Storm. And that just didn't amount to much. We all pretty much just skated right through that. We were lucky with that one. My biggest concerns coming are the occasional Thunder and Lightening Storms. I recall several crazy storms 10 years ago when
I did this the first time. They can be frightening and hurtful. And it's not like I haven't been hit by lightening. Because I have.

And you know that old saying "Lightening does not strike twice in the same place."
Well, that depends in what place they are talking about. The way I look at it is, it's the place
on your body that got hit. Not the place where you were standing when you got hit. I got hit in my finger, that went up my arm, and into my chest. I spent hours in the ER at the local hospital joking about it." I woke up this morning with a full head of brown hair, and now look at me. " Everyone laughed except the doctor. He looked at me and said. "Look, I know you think this is funny, But if that lightening had hit you in between heartbeats, it would of killed you. "

Like I said, I need to be careful these last 100 days.

Now for some of my Weekly Global Observances:
OK I almost had to pull over this week when I heard the news about K-Daffy's letter to President Obama. Did you hear this? It's priceless. I mean you can't make this shit up. Apparently K-Dafffy wrote to Obama asking him to please back off on the daily bombing runs. Then he ended the letter with a "good luck on your reelection." Come on that's classic. That is so K-Daffy...you gotta love this guy. I wonder if Barack wrote back.

I'd love to see the two of them in some kind of Reality TV series. The Baracky & K-Daffy Show.

Oh come on. You know you'd watch it. They both love the attention of being on TV so much, that you just know that show would be a huge hit. If something like this were to actually happen in the future, I would not be the least bit surprised. Not the least. Baracky & K-Daffy.

Speaking of Egomaniacs...is The DONALD Trump hearing what is coming out of his own mouth? I mean Good Lord. Does he not have people that can pull him aside and say "SHUT THE F-UP! You wind blown Hair Tripping Multi Gazillionaire lunatic!" I mean seriously? No one? How about his daughter? Or his wife? Or Freaking Gary Busey! Some one close to that Self Made Ego Frankenstein monster needs to sit his big ass down.

Donald? YOU'RE FIRED! Go home and count your money.

Speaking of Political boneheads. Both The Democrats and the Republicans avoided the much anticipated and dreaded Government Shut Down this weekend. The figures they throw around are so frightening is it any wonder that most people don't pay any attention to this stuff? When you start talking about Billions and Trillions most of us just groan and change the station. Fix the problems. Get the economy working. We don't care about anything else. FIX the Damn economy.

My last comment about politics this week is the sudden turn around by this current administration to have the Trial of the 9-11 conspirators to be tried in a Military Tribunal
at GITMO. Thank you God. Thank you. I am not going to say too little too late. I am going the high road and saying "Better Late Than Never".

And finally, Glenn Beck is stepping down from Fox News. once again, Thank you God.

ANNOUNCEMENTS: THE RUN REDUX IS OUT! Pick one up in the shops or email
me and order one directly or go to www.surffreeordie.com

COMING NEXT on APRIL 15th, 2011 It is "RALPH's PIC OF THE WEEK" 8th Year Anniversary! We started this weekly blog on April 15th, 2004.

SATURDAY APRIL 16th is the BASKETBALL SHOOTOUT To help Fund the local Hampston Skate Park it's at the WHS GYM from 3:30-6:30PM Click here for flyer.

Happy Birthday to...Mike Keefe, Casey Lockwood and Duffy McCarthy April 9th!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY Bob McNeil Tuesday April 12th!
150 Years ago The Civil War started on April 14th 1861...some folks are still fighting it.
Rest in Peace Yia-Yia the Valhouli family grandmother who passed away this week at age 90. That's a wonderful long life. She will be missed by all who knew and loved her. Especially her cooking. Rest in Peace Yia-Yia.
Congrats to my buddy Jeff Chamberlain on the birth of his grandson Cassius!
RED SOX are now 1-7...I watched Friday's home opener and it was great. Yea.
They won a game. But now? I'm just glad that I am a TRUE Fair weather fan.
I can sleep good at night.

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beyond Surf Pics! *NEW PICS added each week!

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ALL of December, January, and February will be up soon . The DROPPING IN ON
RALPH section will be up to DATE as soon as I can find the time to do it. There's just so much a man can do in a single day. But I do want to update that page, as it is entertaining to say the least. Because there's some great letters from you guys from all over the world. (And a few hurtful ones too). But check it out.
*This is the blog section of this website where you can write in and comment. The only downside of this blog is, you actually have to use your REAL Name. No hiding behind some fake handle and name. If you want to comment, you have to man up, and be yourself. I will post all comments, both good and bad. You just have to be yourself.

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Remember my friends...Surfing Heals All Wounds....
Pray for Surf. Pray for Peace. Surf For Fun.

Ralph