The biggest waves I ever saw in New England, I saw in October. I saw them at the Wall on October 31st, 1991. I looked over at my friend Kevin Grondin and without any hesitation in my voice I said,"This is the BIGGEST I've ever seen it here. No question." With 100% conviction in my voice. Kevin agreed. We had never seen waves that big
at the Wall. Ever. I won't even begin to try and describe just how big those waves were that day. We had been surfing down in Massachusetts the entire week, and we would be heading down again that day. And that my friends, is a story all in itself.

The Best Waves I ever saw in New England, I saw in October. Perfectly groomed 6- 8 foot faces, peeling with absolute perfection. Not a drop of water out of place. Embedded on my brain's hard drive forever. The Prettiest and most memorable days I've ever seen in New England, I saw in October. So what am I trying to say here?
Oh come on...you know where I'm going with this. OCTOBER. In my humble opinion
(wait did I just write that?), October is our best month. The BEST.

Do you agree or disagree?

Need I point out that we not only get those butt kicking Nor'easters in October, but
we also get the errant Hurricane. Think about it. From the Halloween Storm in 1991,
to Hurricane Wilma in 2005. OK so we didn't get the best October this year. But that should not have any bearing on all the others. And Lord knows, we've had some
great Octobers. I know you love October.

And really, what's not to love about October?

Can we start with the basic colors? Are you kidding me? Our whole world in New England is on Fire with the most breathtaking colors on the planet. You can't tell me that New England is not one of THE most beautiful places on this earth during October. You can't tell me that. I will not hear of it, if you do. I'm sorry, did you say something?

I'm not trying to tell you which month to love. Well OK, maybe a little.

Hey I'm just trying to point out what should be obvious to most of us. Now I know that some of you love the New England Summers, and then some of you love the New England winters. And while I can certainly can appreciate all of our seasons, it s the Fall, or more specifically, October, that burns in my heart and soul when I am away from these parts. When I am abroad, it is October that I yearn for.

It's true, when I am away. It is October that reminds me of home the most.

The colors. The smells. The briskness in the air. The End of Summer and the Beginning of Autumn. That's October. The rich bright reds, oranges and yellows.
The vivid blue skies. The deep, blue green swells, groomed to perfection by the
brisk Northwest Winds. The air temps and water temps still tolerable for 3/2's with
no gloves and boots. With the Daylight Savings Time still extending those late day dream sessions.

October, oh how I love you. Gee I almost sound like a poet here.

Look, I don't want to get too deep here talking about 31 days. But if you think about it. It's the only month when all four of our major sports teams are actually playing. Baseball, Football, Hockey, and Basketball. Wait is Soccer in Season in October? If
it's not, it should be. But you all know what I'm talking about. O-C-T-O-B-E-R.

Some of you hang up the wetsuits and boards in October. And return in April.

That's cool, nothing wrong with that. Who am I kidding? You guys that stop surfing at the end of October are...oh what's that word I'm looking for? Oh yea. "wooses." Come on. You can't stop at Halloween. If you want to get the most out of our surf seasons, you have to at least surf until December 1st. That's somewhat respectable. 12/1

But the end of October? I'm sorry. That's lame. That's ridiculous. That's stupid.

Case in point. I was surfing the Wall this week...October 28th, 2010 to be more precise. And there was a little bump out there. You know, it was about two feet and it appeared to be building. Now for the record, I was wearing my 3/2. I did however have booties and gloves on. But I could of shed both the gloves and the boots. But I could sense that it was growing. Not that you missed anything. But there were in my humble opinion (Oh no I didn't say that again), a few solid waist high sets consistently hitting the sandbars.

So I went back to my studio and grabbed my camera.

I started to shoot a bunch of people out surfing. I did not know who half of them were and I found myself wishing that someone would come along and really surf these waves so I could share them with you guys. Because, that's what I do. I'm sharing the love. Long story short, as I was scanning the horizon, I noticed two figures on SUPS heading towards the line-up. So what you say? What's so interesting about that? Well...

Both SUPP'RS were in their trunks. No wetsuits. No rash guards. In their freaking trunks. At first I got giddy, thinking they were full blown Kooks who had no idea what they were doing, and I was going to get some decent comedy shots. There's nothing better than shooting beginners who are under dressed (wetsuits) and on the wrong equipment, as far as comic relief shots go.

And it's not that I'm being hurtful. Hardly.

Remember kids, Ralphie is just documenting what I see. I'm not creating scenarios, I'm just shooting them. And sometimes I get some good comical stuff. I thought this was going to be one of those days. But upon further inspection, I noticed that both SUP riders were none other than Kyle and Nate. Both of these guys are accomplished shortboarders and longboarders. And they can both SUP with style. In other words, they are not standing like some Buddha statue and going straight. They can surf those SUPS with style.

But to not have a wetsuits on October 28th, 2010? Why the hell not?

For the next hour I watched with a mixture of both fascination and a slight tinge of jealousy, as the two of them had their way with this new waist high swell. Did they fall? Oh yea. Did they get cold? Oh hell yea. Did I shoot that? Now what do you think? Of course I did. But I also left that day with a better appreciation of the controversial SUP and those who ride those big ass water crafts...and more importantly. I had a deeper love for...October.

Because here we were in short sleeves and shorts, hanging on the beach shooting surfing and these two guys were riding SUPS with no wetsuits or rash guards and they were styling their little butts off. They did this in October. Because that's what you can do in October. Forget about Octoberfest...let's call it what it really is... OCTOBERBEST!

Do you love October as much as I do? I know you're thinking that you do. I'm going to miss you October...I'll see you next Fall...and I can't wait. TRICK OR TREAT.

Now for some of my Weekly Global Observances:
I'm sure you heard about the latest threat from the world's most hated Terrorist Group. Al Freaking Qeada. Well Ole Al Qeada was foiled again in an attempt to try and mess up the US. Our allies tipped us off about the alleged threat to cause mayhem in our country. This was a dry run. But the next time could be the real deal. I know it's hard to stay focused on these terror groups with all that is going on in our busy lives, but it sure is nice to know that we have people dedicated to monitoring these assholes on a minute to minute basis.

Al Qeada...you're a bunch of losers. We're coming to get you.

Speaking of crazy. I'm not sure who is crazier this week. Charlie Sheen or Brett Farve? WTF is up with these two? Has the celebrity world Gone Loco? I mean come on Charlie. And Brett what the hell were you thinking about? You send a photo of your junk over the Internet to some woman who wants nothing to do with you and you think nothing of it? Wait a minute, what am I saying here? I'm talking about a man who throws footballs into the open hands of defensive backs. Some of his interceptions last week were off the hook crazy. So never mind about Brett. He's always throwing caution to the wind.

But Charlie? Seriously Charlie...grow up.

Speaking of Brett Farve. The Vikings come to town today. And our favorite WR is with them Randy Moss. This should be fun. I hope the Pats win and win big. And I really hope that our DBs pick off Farve and burn Randy on the deep ball. That would be Sweet. As in Trick or Treat Sweet.

Watching The Celtics opener against the Heat this week was like watching a Play-Off game. It was great seeing Shaq in all of his Giant-ness. And seeing the KING go down was equally satisfying. It's a good time to be a New England Sports fan again. Go Patriots! Go Celtics! Go Bruins!

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
NEW SURF FREE OR DIE MOVIE to be released on NOVEMBER 20, 2010.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
TUESDAY NOVEMBER 2nd is my 100th Day in my CATCH A WAVE FOR MOLLY quest.
Get well soon super Surf Mom Kim Grondin. We ALL Love you!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY Patrick Meehan November 1st!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY Katherine Smith November 2nd!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY Jon Anderson November 2nd!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY Steve Franson November 7th!
HAPPY HALLOWEEN...be safe out there.
VOTE VOTE VOTE on NOVEMBER 2nd!
Don't forget to Check the DAILY BLOG on My CATCH A WAVE FOR MOLLY. (Click
On the Banner on this page.) Started on July 26, 2010 ENDS July 26, 2011. A Wave
a day for 365 consecutive days. Just click on the banner ads on this page.

CHECK OUT THE NEW/Old YESTERDAY PAGE! ALL OLD New England and
beyond Surf Pics! *NEW PICS added each week!

*Check out the NEW updated DROPPING IN ON RALPH blog Section.
I will have ALL of September and October up this week. *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.

Please Support ALL The photographers who contribute to Ralph's Pic Of The Week
every week for the last 7 years. **Think about BUYING a Photo from any of the weeks
on RPOTW as a GREAT Gift Idea. A nice framed photo of your favorite Surfer!

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

Ralph