February 8th, 2009

Is this for real? The weather? Is it really as warm as it feels? Dam... The snow and ice is really melting? Is this the beginning of the end of this "Winter to End All Winters?". Ha! Look I didn't come down with today's warm front. I know better. I know what Mother Nature is up to, and I for one will not fall for it. No sir. It will take more than some 49 degree heat wave to fool my ass. You kidding me? I know exactly what this is. It's a dam tease. I almost fell for it though.

I almost put the snowblower behind the lawn mower.

Then I remembered. The years when we had nasty snow storms deep into March, and that one year, when it snowed with almost 6' high drifts on April Fools Day. Remember that one? Well, I almost did. No sir, lil Ralphie is not gonna get sucked into this false sense of some BS warming trend.

I'm not taking any chances. I'm filling up my gas container. I will not get caught without gas for the snowblower when the next storm comes. Of course, there's always the "reverse voodoo". I fill up the gas container for the snowblower, and it never snows again. Then you can all thank me. But something tells me, that is not gonna happen.

My wife's mom and her husband moved from Arizona to Northern New England about 5 years ago. I saw them on Saturday and gave them kudos for surviving their first real Northern New England winter (albeit it's far from over). "You did it." I said. "You finally experienced a true harsh New England winter." And it's true. Living through snow is one thing. It's the bitter cold, that really tests your fortitude and resolve. And they passed. I almost got a little weepy.

Here are these two, dedicated warm weather beings, who left the warmth, and snowless Arizona desert, for the snow, ice and cold of New England. Just to be near their grandchildren. I knew they were reluctant at first. And they went through the initial awe of seeing snow stage.

You know what I'm talking about.

When folks see snow for the first time, they get all giddy. It's mind-blowing to them. While we hard-core winter vets chuckle at their naiveté. But these two Ex-Arizona-ites relatives of ours, had not yet experienced a REAL New England Winter, until now.

They had passed the test. I should have saluted them both.

Loss of power, snow storm, after snow storm, after snow storm, and bitter cold conditions. That's the New England winters we all know. And really? All you California, Florida, and Hawaiian readers have NO idea what it's like, unless you live through one of these cold ass winters. It does more than just put hair on your chest.

That's why we all sneer at you Cali guys who wear hoods with no boots and gloves. That just cracks us up. We know cold. And trust me my Westies, what you guys experience is NOT cold. Not even close. Cold my friends, is what we had on Wednesday, February 4th, 2009. Now that shit was cold. Wooooooo doggie was it cold.

So how cold was it?

You know, it's hard to put into figures, and really, the numbers do not really tell the tale. It was cold. As cold as it gets. I saw guys, unable to stand up, after an hour or two. I saw guys, stumbling through the snow, on their way back to their vehicles, mumbling unintelligible banter. It was as if they were speaking in tongues.

Their faces swollen, lips flapping as they struggled with their gloves, trying to get into their cold vehicles. But the most amazing thing about Wednesday was, that every one of them, could only comment on how good the surf was. Yea we knew it was cold. Hello? Of course it's cold. It's February. But the surf was beautiful.

And that's the beauty of "this thing of ours." The surf.

Our surf. I was talking to a non surfer just last night, who was engaging me, in the endless topic of (and this is from people who live here, but don't surf here), "There's really good surf around here?" Really, how many of us have heard those words? I wish I had a generic comeback line for them, but I don't. More times than not, I either calmly educate them, or depending on who's doing the asking...I lay into 'em, with both barrels blasting!

"We have WORLD CLASS SURF When we get it. It's just that, we have to deal with some extra harsh conditions in the winter."

Usually they seem enlightened by this new found knowledge, while other times, they seem more skeptical. But it does not matter to us. Does it? All you hardcore New Englanders, know exactly what I'm talking about. We've all had this conversation with friends, coworkers, parents of other kids who play on sports teams with your kids, relatives at holiday gatherings. And so on, and so on.

What a sharp contrast from those living in California or Hawaii. I mean everyone knows you guys have surf. No one questions that. Yet, out here, we get it all the time.

So we deal with it.

The only place, that probably gets it more than us, is the Great Lakes. Hell, even I questioned the authenticity of their surf, until I saw the pics and the viddys. Now I know. But I am certain, that the Great Lake Surfers must get that question all the time. Everywhere they go. Both at home and abroad. My heart goes out to you guys. I feel your pain. Although, I must say, I'm not 100% certain, your surf is as consistent as you all claim.

Now why do I have to be so hurtful?

I did something the other day that really upset me. I got a ding in my new board. Now before you say anything like "Yea big deal, we all get dings. It's part of surfing Ralph. Get over it." Or things of that nature. (I've been dying to write that line -"Things of that nature"...) Any ways, the ding I got, was not out in the water, riding my board, and doing something remotely respectful, like hitting a rock, or hitting the bottom, or even something even halfway respectful, like hitting another board. Wait? Hitting someone else's board is NOT respectful. What the hell am I saying? In any event. The ding I got was ...

...in my garage. It's true. I was showing my young nephew my new board. He thought the artwork was really cool and wanted to see it. So I pulled it out of the rack and it got tangled up with my daughter's board. Both leashes were wrapped around each other. In my haste, I yanked at my board trying to untangle the boards when...you guessed it. My board got hung up, and slipped out of my hands, and hit the floor. The cement floor. Now, to my own defense, my board had ice on it, due to being wet earlier in the day. But that's no excuse. I was impatient and I was agitated. Again.

"Dammit!" I cursed as I felt the tail where this new hole had been born. My little nephew Antonio looked up at me and said..."Is that bad?" "Yes. It's bad and stupid." I answered "It's my own fault." The Magic board had it's first ding, and I got it in the garage. I know we've all had ding stories, where we've gotten dings, away from the ocean, and it really does not make a hill of beans difference, where, or how, we get them. They all suck.

Only the ding repairman likes dings.

I get sentimental about my boards. In fact, I'm neither ashamed, or apologetic, to tell you all, that I still have most of the boards I've ever owned. My boards are like my guitars. Each one is special. Unless, I really don't like one, or, one has tried to kill me, like my old Spectrum. I sold that one. 36 stitches in my face. Knocked me unconscious in the water during Hurricane Hortense in 1996. Tony and Terence remember that morning.

But, most of my other boards? Well, they're like family to me. Of course, my latest acquisition- AKA "My Magic Board" is right up there, on the 'must keep and preserve' list. So, to get a ding in that baby...well, it was like me getting stitches all over again. Especially, in light of how I did it. At my own hand, and in my garage. In front of my young nephew. Talk about embarrassment. I'm sure you have all had embarrassing ding stories, that you more than likely, would just as soon forget.

It will be a while, before I forget this one.

Speaking of my Magic board. Hannah Vokey is a local (regional) surfer/artist who loves surfing and art. She has had her surf art exhibited on several of my Surf Art columns each year, and she recently was commissioned in completing a few paintings for us Northern boys. One is of me and my Magic Board, and one is of Max at the Wall during the November swell when Frankie Walsh was here. And she did one of Dave Cropper too.

Hannah's stoke and talent are genuine and for real. The love of surfing and art are apparent in her writings and her work. She has a website and you can see samples of her work there. Check out Hannah's amazing surf art at: BoardriderArt.com

Now for some of my weekly observances:

This week was all about the $Gazillion Dollar Stimulus Plan. Now, I don't propose to know the ins and outs on this thing, but I do know that a Gazillion, or Bazillion dollars, is a lot of money. And I know, that there has been some serious Bipartisan bickering going on. Meanwhile, the average 'Joe ' suffers from this draining economy. Can't we all get along? Or, at the very least, can't we all get some of that money? I could use a little stimulating.

Speaking of stimulating...how about the A-Rod story?
Turns out Mr Rodriguez was taking the juice back in 2003. Look, I may have said this in the past, and I'm sure I have to some of you in person. And that is, I'm all for major pro athletes taking Steroids. I mean it. Juice it up! It's all about entertainment. Right? Come on. Let these guys juice up and gain super human strength. They could have separate divisions. One for, natural toned, sports figures and one for the Roided Up Mutants. I'm kidding.

The other major story is of the Mother from California who gave birth to 50 kids. Or something like that. She claims, it's because of her 'only child syndrome' that she needed to have a 100 kids. I don't know why every one is so down on her. Didn't we all grow up on the Old Woman and the Shoe story? 'She had so many children, she didn't know what to do?' Well apparently, she moved to California.

Only child syndrome. Give me a break.

So was I the only one, who had flashbacks during last weekend's Superbowl? I mean The ARIZONA CARDINALS had just pulled ahead of the PITTSBURGH STEELERS and all they had to do, was stop them. 2:37 left in the game. Just stop the STEELERS and they win their first SUPERBOWL. Like a lot of you, I had nothing invested in either team.

Yet, I found myself rooting for the Cards. And when they went ahead late in the 4th qtr, after getting their asses kicked the whole game, I was really rooting for them. Not exactly heart palpitations like the previous year, but close enough. I was into it.

Then the Steelers, like the Giants the year before, did a final drive and scored with 35 seconds on the clock. That put the final nail in the coffin. It was all too painfully familiar. It was like watching the PATRIOTS all over again. Except, this time, I did not wake up the next morning in a funk. Maybe, I am over that last game between the Giants and the Pats.

No I am not. I will take that defeat to my grave.

Just like every other self respecting Patriots fan should. To the grave. Where it will be (for me at least), buried and gone. Long gone. The Pro bowl is on right now ...ho hum. Who cares? Give me a stimulus plan any day.

These are the websites pertaining to the Children of Nicaragua that was brought to all of our attention through Brian Nevin's recent work. Both seen here, and in the Surfers Journal. lovelightandmelody.org
This organization deals directly with the plight of the children of the Dump. There is plenty of info for anyone looking to donate or get involved.
The other is a great organization that helps poor farmers in Central America, including Nicaragua.
www.sustainableharvest.org was founded by NH native and UNH grad, Florence Reed (read about Flo in UNH magazine: http://unhmagazine.unh.edu/sp05/plantinghope.html SHI provides tools, knowledge, and assistance in implementing sustainable farming methods that dramatically improve people's lives.

And remember, if any of you readers of Ralph's Pic Of The Week would be willing to donate to SHI, an anonymous donor, would match these donations up to a total of $5000. Readers can go to www.sustainableharvest.org for more information or to donate. PLEASE put a note in the comments section of their online donation page saying this donation generated from "www.ralphspic.com".

Thank you again for your support. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact SHI by email rgsullivan@sustainableharvest.org or 207-669-8254.

Don't forget "GREETING SEASONS" and "Groovemasters" are in the shops!

There's still time to score one of Brian Nevins's canvas print orders. Brian Nevins 949.295.9390
www.briannevins.com

Kevin Doherty and Chris Shipley both have 2009 Calendars in the Shops Check em out!


QWILL is available on myspace.com/qwillmusic

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

NEW LOOK & Changes to RPOTW COMING MARCH 1st

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

Ralph