December 1st, 2008

One of the first things you notice when you drive away from the Seacoast is, the lack of water crafts on the tops of vehicles. In particular, Surfboards. Things you take for granted, like seeing boards on vehicles. The further away we got, the fewer boards we saw. At one point, I thought I saw a board on the roof of an oncoming vehicle, but upon a closer look, it was some kind of woodland craft. Hell, it might of even been a dead deer.

Don't get me wrong here kids. We love traveling to Virginia for Thanksgiving, it's part of our family tradition. The 11 hour drive is rather taxing. Both physically and mentally. But we do it each year, and when we leave the sleepy town of Hampton in the middle of the night, we know two things. (1) Thanksgiving in Virginia is a fun family trip. (2) There will be surf when we leave.

And judging from the photos I've received in my inbox...there was some REAL Good waves. But honestly, I can't really look at the trip as a sacrifice. That would be selfish and silly on my part. Sacrifice? Hardly, the men and women who are serving our country both here at home, and in harms way, are making the sacrifice. Not the Ralph family.

Missing surf for a few days out of the year is not a sacrifice.

Although, Max might not see it that way. That's OK, he's still young. He's still learning. And I'm fixing to learn him some more...wait, I'm talking like I'm still in Virginia.

Actually, that's not fair to my friends and family in VA. They are wonderful people and VA is so beautiful this time of year. And with Hi-Speed Internet, we were able to watch the surf. Even if it was 11 hours away. You know what? It was painful.

But we'll get over it.

Looks like the best day, was the day before Thanksgiving. But then again, I was not here, so I can only judge by the evidence that my team of photographers have produced. Speaking of photogs. I inadvertently deleted the first batch of photos that came in from Ed O'Connell. I was using my in-laws Hi Speed Internet access and I saw the photos. And then I somehow deleted them along with the spam I was killing. Sorry Ed. I feel terrible. I was going to post yours first too.

So how many of you missed Thanksgiving Dinner? Were there any? Now before you dismiss this, some of you older readers will recall that some of my earlier writings, included missing major Holidays due to surf. Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter etc etc.

I missed them all. Because of surfing. Not on purpose mind you. I missed the dinners and the gatherings because the surf was too good. I was selfish back then. Actually, we were late last Christmas Eve due to surf. So I guess I'm still learning as well. The point I'm making is. Don't feel bad if you miss the big dinner due to surf. Unless it's REALLY a special dinner with an elderly grandparent, or relative that might not be around much longer. If that's the case, get one more wave and then head in.

Don't be a jerk to your poor parents.

Get home and clean yourself up and be responsible. After the main course, if you still have time, then you can slip back out. But my advice, is to make an attempt to show up at the dinner with the family. Am I a hypocrite? Yes. But, I'm an older, wiser hypocrite, so I have some merit. Sort of.

The drive down to VA takes about 11 hours. The drive back takes longer. 13 plus hours of hell. Getting back home to the Ocean is a mission that takes teamwork in our vehicle. Everyone knows that dad is on FULL ALERT MODE. Why? Are you kidding me? Rte 81 is nothing but white knuckle driving. With large tractor trailer trucks whizzing by on both sides of you, it's unnerving at best. You need to be paying attention.

At one point, a small Volkswagen Jetta suddenly swerved into my lane. No signals, no brakes. I hit the brakes and the JEEP Commander's Anti-brake locking system kicked in. The person driving the JETTA was clueless at what had just happened. The person, was a female who appeared to be eating a large muffin. In the back seat of her vehicle, were trays of muffins all stacked up. She had a bumper sticker on her car that read COEXIST. You've seen them. The one with the peace sign where the "O" should be.

I went into my fantasy mode and thought; in Ralph's Fantasy World where Road Rage is Legal, I would of grinded my Commander against her wimpy JETTA and made her pull over. Then I would of yanked her out of the vehicle and yelled "Bitch! You almost killed my entire family! You want to COEXIST? My Jeep almost Co-existed with your Jetta by driving through the back end of this thing!"

Then, I would of stuffed a handful of muffins down her throat and my own.

Thankfully, I snapped out of my wacky, make believe world, when my wife said "Can you believe that idiot?" I turned and looked at her and just shook my head. "Unbelievable."

I guess it could of been worse. She could of been texting someone. Then we heard on the news about the Walmart employee who was trampled to death on Black Friday. We shook our heads in disbelief.

We all couldn't wait to get back to the ocean.

Those of you who are regular readers, all know by now, this column is a day late. I tried to finish up last night, but my body was still vibrating from the long 13 hour drive. Sorry if I messed up your Monday morning routine. Mine is messed up as well. I try to keep this thing fresh for you all on Sunday's but sometimes life gets in the way. Thanksgiving is one of those week's where Ole Ralph's Pic gets messed up.

But I do trust you all had a nice Thanksgiving. I know that those of you who stayed close to home, got some REAL good surf. That's good. I hope you all filled your bellies with the Thanksgiving Bounty that was born from the early days of New England. We are pretty lucky (historical wise) to have all these major events that have happened in our Nation's History to have occurred right here in New England.

From Thanksgiving with the Pilgrims, to the start of the Revolutionary War, to the birth of Ralph's Pic of the Week. Pretty historical wouldn't you say? Or is it hysterical? Either way, we live in a pretty special neck of the woods. It all started here. Right here in New England.

Speaking of New England...

What the hell happened to them dam Patriots? Last week we were lifting them up over our heads and praising the genius plays of Matt Cassell, and today, we are scratching our heads. Maybe they should change their name to the New England Box Of Chocolates. Huh? You know, to borrow from Forrest Gump...the Box of Chocolates line..."You never know what you're gonna get". It's true. One week Cassell and company are slaying their opponents and wracking up all kinds of points and NFL records and the next week they are getting their butts kicked in the mud and rain.

Not that the Steelers are not a good team. They are. But from what we heard (we were driving home listening on Sirrius radio.
It just sounded like a series of errors and mistakes. 5 turnovers? You can't do that in the NFL. You cant turn the ball over that many times and expect to win. Not in the NFL. Not in college. Not in High School. Hell, you can't do that in Pop Warner.

And if yesterday's performance by the Patriots were not bad enough, the Denver Broncos did us all a favor by beating the JETS. We could of pulled within one game of the AFC East if we had won. As it stands now, our play-off chances are slim. Not impossible, but slim. And we can't look at any of the remaining four games and predict which games we will win, and which ones we will lose. Even the Vegas bookies can't do that.

Don't get me wrong here guys. Last week I was saying that I'm back into the team. And I am. It's just that as a fan, well, I'm entitled to be upset when our team loses. And not just lose, but get their freaking asses kicked. Catch them dam footballs! Don't fumble them dam footballs! Take those dam footballs and cross over the goal line. The concept of football is simple. Score more points than the other team.

If anyone sees a KNEEBOARD FROM SOUTH AFRICA:
6'-1" 22-1/2W approx; pintail; tri-fin fcs; BILT Logo in Oval; Silver Fish Boardbag; Shapers Words: Two black kneepads on the board. Stolen out of a Red Nissan Frontier Pickup 28th Sept. 2008, Sunday evening, Big Reward. CONTACT ME directly and I will put you in touch with the REWARD/OWNER.

A special GET WELL to our good friend Geoff Haenn's niece who was involved in a auto accident last month. Our thoughts and prayers are with the Haenn family as Geoff's niece recuperates. For more info on what you can do to help, go to this link. http://www.myspace.com/anthonygreen

Jimmy Dunn has a great video piece on WMUR TV Channel 9 click this link to see our boy Jimmy surf and crack people up.
JimmyDunnNHChronicle

Don't forget that "GREETING SEASONS" comes out on December 7th. And "Groovemasters" the first ever Longboard ONLY movie from Surf Free Or Die comes out on Sunday December 21st. The first day of Winter.

Finally, one of our very talented Photographers Brian Nevins has a Great Holiday Gift special going on. I know you've all seen his work here on this site and he's been one of our main guys at Ralph's Pic Of The Week for the last few years.

He's doing canvas print orders for the holidays. There are samples at Cinnamon Rainbows and JB's Bagels. It's by order only as the pricing fluctuates but you can order any photo that he's taken off his website or this site to print.
Brian Nevins 949.295.9390
www.briannevins.com

Please Support ALL The photographers who contribute to Ralph's Pic Of The Week Especially: Ed O'Connell, John Carden, Brian Nevins, Jamie Wade, Kevin Doherty, Lenny Nichols, Chris Shipley, Ross Kunkel, Bob Consentino, and Chris Thompson and all the others who submit photos to this site.

QWILL is available on myspace.com/qwillmusic

Remember my friends...Surfing heals all wounds....
Pray for Surf. Pray for Peace. Surf For Fun.

Ralph