"AND THE WIND BEGAN TO HOWL!"
That's a Bob Dylan lyric from the song that was made famous by Jimi Hendrix, ALL ALONG THE WATCHTOWER. But "Boy Oh Boy" did that wind ever howl. She started howling late Wednesday night, and didn't stop until Saturday morning.
I could hear the ocean getting angry from my house on Wednesday as well.
By Thursday morning, she was gusting 40 to 50mph out of the east. That's an onshore wind for us East Coasters. No where is good to surf. But we all knew, the wind was going to come around and blow out of the west.
What we didn't know, was that she would blow just as hard.
40 to 50mph! 
There were reports of the wind gusting up to 60mph plus! That's damn near hurricane force winds. And once the wind shifted out of the west, so too did the air temps drop. And I mean drop. It made no difference what you were wearing, it was biting cold. The wind went through every layer of clothing I was wearing on the beach. It's days like this, that make us yearn for the tropics.
I have mentioned in the past that having been on both sides of the winter wetsuit, I know what it's like to be in the water on the cold days, and on the beach on those same cold days. And I'm telling you, it is colder standing on the beach than it is in the water. Much colder.
And as much as I am sort of complaining about the cold, I realize that it is exactly these kinds of days in the winter, that I am drawn to each winter. I know what nature provides and I am willing to put up with the discomfort of being cold to get the shots and the video. Like this shot above. This is actually from a sequence. Typically we surf photographers shoot sequences of surfers on waves like this. But I have always loved shooting sequences of empty waves as well. You can see so much more with the empty wave than you can with a wave with a rider onboard.
In fact, I shot plenty of video of empty waves spilling over, with giant plumes of spray blowing back out sea for 30 to 50 yards. It's impressive. mother nature.
The video I shot on 2-27-20 will be ready mid week. There's not much in the way of surf this week so I should be free to just edit. I just finished the California edit for my friends out west and here at home. I will be making a shorter version of that edit as well to post here. But I'm really looking forward to see what I have on video from this incredible day of Wind and Waves.
Just when you think that the print media is dead...BAM!
I must not being paying attention. Because this mag somehow slipped under my radar. Is it a All EAST COAST mag? Or something else? All I do know is one of our Northern Tribe Warriors has a pretty freaking cool color photo in this issue. Check out Kainalu Nichols.
Still one of my favorite water shots of all time. The fact that it's Kai makes it all th better. The Dirty Jersey Brown never looked better. I'm going to have to look up these guys and see what's up. RAMBLER. My late grandmother drove a Rambler, but I'm sure that's not the image they are after. Or is it?
Every now and then my buddy Jay Hammer
who lives in hawaii sends me stuff via email. He sent this to me the other day. Apparently there was a fire at WAIKIKI's Moana Surfrider and all the boards burned to a crisp. Except one.
Not sure who would burn down something of this significance, but there is an ARSON investigation ongoing as I write this. Pretty sad. There's some true Hawaiian history lost here.
This image below popped up on my TWITTER Feed.
It's a signed copy of the original NEWSWEEK Magazine from 1964. This belongs to my old friend ChaChi Loprette. And it is signed by the two surviving BEATLES Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr. Cha-Chi has a morning Beatles show on WUMB.org called BREAKFAST WITH THE BEATLES. If you haven't heard it and you're a Beatles fan, you should dial him up.
I know a lot of Beatles fans (myself included) but not many of them hold the knowledge that ChaChi does when it comes to BEATLEMANIA.
The man knows it all. He's invested his whole life into the Beatles. Personally, I can say without question that The BEATLES changed my life. And I know hundreds of musicians who can say the same. I mean these are musicians that I know. And you all know, that there are millions more who can say the same. Think about that.
Millions of musicians who were/are influenced by The BEATLES.
I get upset when I hear someone say that The Beatles were not that good.
And if someone says to me "they don't like them?" That raises an immediate Red Flag and that person instantly slips down several rungs on the Ladder of RESPECTABILITY. That is a person who is not to be trusted.
ChaChi has met both McCartney and Ringo several times.
Ringo and Chachi are on a first name basis. ChaChi's favorite Beatle was
George. And while he never met George, he did speak with him over the phone once. He's met Yoko Ono but never John. Anyway, I thought you'd get a kick out of this old 1964 NEWSWEEK cover
So you're asking yourself, why is Ralph posting a photo of his dog in the snow? Two reasons. First and foremost, I love my dog Patch and I thought this was a good photo of him. Secondly, look at the size of those deer tracks in the snow. That's a huge Buck. We were out last Sunday poking around the woods looking for sheds. I know, let me guess, you have no idea what a shed is right? A shed is the Buck's antlers.
The Bucks shed their antlers each winter and grow back new ones each summer.
My guess is the owner of these tracks had a huge rack that is out in those woods somewhere. And it's really just another excuse to run the dog and get some excercise. "Go find that bone Patch!"
I know you've heard me say in the past that you need to both look up and look down at your feet when you're out and about with a camera. Though in today's world, everyone has a decent camera in their cell phones.
Trying to get a "Wave Cloud" is hard to do because they don't last long. And some wave clouds only slightly resemble a wave. But this pic? This is a good one.
Taken at Mount Washington's Observatory. That looks like a wave to me.
So keep your eyes open out there. Look up. Look down. You'll be surprised at what you will see.
"Surfing Heals All Wounds."
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This is Mark Jowett exactly 10 years ago to the day. The only difference is there are no waves today. And that board is no longer in service. March 1st, 2010.
Photo by Ed O'Connell
*Click the photo above to see a larger version of Ed's Pic.
Now for Some Local, National and International News
This just in. Joe Biden wins South Carolina. He trounced Larry David, I mean Bernie Sanders. I'm personally way more comfortable with Joe than I am with Bernie. Still with 45, Biden, and Sanders all in their 70's it really dosen't say much about the future of our country. I joked last week calling it the Campaign of
Presidential Geezers. But you know what? It pretty much is.
After Super Tuesday we should start to get a better idea of who will be left standing. Tom Styer has left the race as of today.
OK this shit is real and starting to scare some people. I say some because I am not one of them.
How is it that South America and Africa are clear? Same with Mexico. What if Mexico ends up being the safe zone? Hope they don't go and build a wall to keep us out. That would really suck, but be really funny too.
If this holds? It will be the end of our 19 year War with the Taliban. Those in the know are holding their breath on this one.
Hard to trust these "Bearded Toads." They are to be our allies against both Al Qeada and ISIS. That should be interesting.
ESM (Eastern Surf Magazine) using a READY MAG format did the Best of Ralph's Pic. And while they couldn't possibly use everything thing I've ever done, they did manage to put up some 50 pics of mine, plus two videos. And I was truly humbled by their intro. Mez said some nice things about me. CLICK ON THE IMAGE ABOVE TO SEE THE WHOLE Spread.
COMING FATHER'S DAY 2020.
Look "FOR LOVE AND WAVES" sometime in the near future. It will be an all original soundtrack. And this all original concept of couples who surf will be fun. Married couples. Single couples. Gay couples.
Lovers who surf together. From SURF FREE OR DIE and RALPH'S PIC OF THE WEEK.
The TRAILER was posted on Valentines Day
February 14th, 2020. Get the significance?
Or RENT or BUY it Online. You have spoken and I have listened. You don't have a DVD player so I made it available Online. Watch it on your Smart TV, your computer, or your cellphone! I can't make this any easier my friends.
GRANITE GIRLS and The RIVER WOMEN from Ralph's Pic Of The Week on Vimeo.
NOW AVAILABLE on VIMEO ON DEMAND.
KSM Photoshop of the Week
Say what you want about KSM, but the truth is, you DON'T NEED A MASK! You will not be protected by the Coronavirus wearing a paper mask. So take this pic as a PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT from Kahliddy down in GITMO.
And so my friends, please take advantage of this weekly photo shop of the mastermind who planned 9-11 and resulted in the deaths of 3,000 innocent civilians by KSM (Khalid Sheik Mohammed).
*Note to self -must pick up a case of paper masks
at Home Depot this week.
Each winter I run these promos form our friends in the mountains. LOON, CRANMORE, and PAT'S PEAK. Just click on these logos below to see what's happening up north.
New England's Most Accessible Resort
EXIT 32 off of 1-93
North Conway's Family Mountain
Located in North Conway, NH
Voted # 1 Ski Town in the country by USA Today
Southern New Hampshire's Family Friendly Mountain
Close To Home!
HAPPY 70th BIRTHDAY Joe Somogyi March 2nd, 2020!
HAPPY 64th BIRTHDAY Lenny Nichols February 22nd, 2020!
HAPPY 41st Anniversary John and Judith Rastl February 23rd!
HEAL QUICKLY Jacko Keefe and Johnny Meehan!
REST IN PEACE Comet Fatello February 3rd, 2020.
REST IN PEACE John Holman February 11th, 2020 age 91.
REST IN PEACE WAAF Radio.
PLEASE Keep longtime NH Surfer Greg Smith in your Prayers.
Lenny Nichols & Colin Madden
Co-Directors, NNE District
Eastern Surfing Association
www.esa-nne.org
@esa.nne.surf
Please
Support ALL The photographers who contribute to
Ralph's Pic Of The Week every week for the last 16 years.
** BUY a HIGH RES Photo
from any of the weeks on RPOTW.
Remember
my friends... Surfing Heals All Wounds.
Pray for Surf. Pray for Peace. Surf For Fun.
Ralph
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