This is a pic from 2005. At the time of this photo they were: Leah Grondin, Julia Nichols, Gabby Fatello, and Nohea Nichols. They were all single, teenage surfers. Today, they are all married and mothers. Or as in Nohea's case "Mother to be". Boy what a difference 14 years make. Three of the four still surf today. Leah, Julia, and Nohea still surf. I believe that Gabby would if she were close enough to the ocean, and had a baby sitter to watch her three kids. Say what? Yup it's true. Gabby has three kids. Leah has a baby daughter and is pregnant with another baby. Julia has a baby girl. And Nohea is going to have a baby girl in the near future.
Holy Mother's Day Batman!
It seems like yesterday that I was holding my little "Gabby Girl" up in the air like this. This does not seem that long ago. But I know it is. Now I do this with her girls. Life has a way of getting away from you if you're not paying attention. Hell, it gets away from you even if you're on top of things.
It truly does seem like yesterday when the kids were young and we all hung out at the beach as a family. We all still hang at the beach but not like we did back in the day. These days we tend to bump into each other at the beach.
It's funny how "Mother Ocean" still has that hold on us all.
I'm fortunate to have many Mothers in my life. Besides my own wife Cory and my daughter Gabby, I have my Mother-in-law Judith (pictured here with her husband John holding baby Gabby). She's the BEST Mother-in-Law a man could ever ask for. I know there's that stereo type joke about Mother-in-laws but that's not the case with Judith. She's a great Mom and a great grandmother. And as hard as it is to believe, she's a wonderful Great Grandmother! Cory and I are going to spend some time with Judith and John in the next few days. So this is a good time to mention (again) that the Blog will be late next week by one day.
I would be remiss if I didn't mention my other Mother-in-law.
Jo Ellen pictured below came to visit us for a week. She just left but not
before spending time with all of us. Both Judith and Jo Ellen live a relatively quiet life. There's nothing further from that truth at our house. When all three of the kids are there along with the three grandkids it reminds me of my childhood. Loud and happy.
When Cory and I were first starting out we had to compromise as far as how many kids we wanted to raise. Cory was an only child and I came from a family of three boys and three girls. So we settled on three. Seems to have worked out just fine. And now with three grandchildren, along with Gabby's husband Brent having a child (that makes 4), our youngest Noelle and Pete are getting married in 2020. Our family is growing. Max is the holdout here. But there's plenty of time. After all, I didn't get married until I was 37. And I was 45 when our youngest was born. So take your time Mackey.
So we had an incredible 3 Day Swell last week. May 7th, 8th, and 9th, 2019.
As always, the month of May brings those who are sort of, oh what's the word I'm looking for? A kind word. Not Kook, but quirky. Like this guy pictured below. Now for all intents and purposes the water temperature in early May is still very very cold here in Northern New England. You need to wear boots and gloves. Most people still wear hoods. It's that cold.
So when I spotted this guy hit the water sans boots, gloves, and hood, I knew I better put my lens on him. Sure enough, he didn't last 15 minutes out there. Why? Well I just told you one reason. It was too cold. The other reason is he paddled out to a spot that is not user friendly. In other words, he was a GREEN circle skier going down a BLACK Diamond mountain.
He basically got his ass kicked by the surf, and was out maneuvered by the locals, and as a result, he was sent to the beach with his tail between his legs. I watched him sit on the beach and complain to the girl he was with. She was taking photos of him. I can tell you right here and now, she couldn't have possibly gotten any good shots of him. I believe the pic above was the best pic taken of him all day.
Some times when I'm feeling a little gray on those overcast days, I always look for a "Patch of Blue" in the sky. It's my own way of reminding myself that there's always that silver lining in life that somehow and someway, things will get better. And they usually do.
I wrote a song many years ago called "A Patch Of Blue".
This is a little scene of running water on the beach. I shot this on the third day May 9th, 2019. I looked down and saw the glistening rays of light bouncing off this little stream of ocean water receding with the tide. As much as I look up, I will always look down. There's a whole other world in the sky and at our feet.
You just have to literally open your eyes.
This is a pic of my friend Kenny that I shot on May 9th. He's heading down to Mexico today to chase waves. That fire still burns hot in his belly. There's no doubt he's going to score because there's huge surf in Mexico this week. Safe travels my friend...and GO BRUINS!
The pic below is of Jake Davidson. His leash snapped on a bomb of a wave on May 7th. This place can be treacherous at low tide. And losing your board here is no easy task when it comes to retrieving it. Sometimes I feel like a combat photographer shooting some uncomfortable battle scene. But I quickly remind myself that I am there to document the action. All of it. The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. Sometimes it's just not that pretty.
I can report to you all that Jake got his board, and there were no dings.
And the good news was, he was able to get another leash and paddle
back out.
But like I was saying...I look down at times (usually when there's a lull) and I will spot these little tidal scenes like this. The water was slowly filling up these tidal pools and covering these dry rocks. I know, it's not for everyone. But I'm going to guess that some of you are actually fascinated as I am when things like this happen. Unfortunately most of you only want the serious wave action pics. Not to worry you adrenaline junkies, I have three whole galleries of that stuff this week. You'll see more action pics than you can shake a stick at.
Bravo to Alex Cora for not going to the White House to meet with 45. Cora is a man of his word (unlike 45). He knows what little 45 did to help his homeland of Puerto Rico during the massive MARIA Hurricane. I'm not blaming the others for going, I'm just acknowledging Alex Cora for having the courage and conviction to back up his words.
Finally, I took this photo yesterday while out in the woods. I love the colors. And I'm dedicating
this pic to my late Mother and to ALL THE MOTHERS. Past, Present, and Future. Have a HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!
"Surfing, Mothers, Friends, Family, and LOVE Heals All Wounds."
|
This is a very cool but warm pic from Ed back in 2013. I'm afraid we don't know who the surfer is, but we can certainly feel his vibe. Talk about morning mist. I love this pic.
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
There always seems to be something that Ole 45 is up to these days that will virtually guarantee to raise a few eyebrows. Like this for instance. Giving Tiger Woods the Freedom Medal. Look, I'm not opposed to Tiger being acknowledged for winning the Masters a few weeks ago. I'm just opposed to giving him a medal for playing Golf. I don't know, I guess I always have a hard time with the "Hero" worship of sports players. Don't get me wrong. I love most sports and have always recognized and acknowledged the Greats. But they are NOT heroes.
But it seems fitting that a Non-Hero president would honor a non hero golfer. * By the way, go back to 2016 and listen to 45 mock President Obama about his Golfing. And then CHECK THE ACTUAL STATISTICS about how many times 45 has golfed compared to ANY OTHER SITTING PRESIDENT. You will be astounded. Can you say HYPOCRITE? Sure you can.
Speaking of sports. The BOSTON BRUINS are Playing the CAROLINA HURRICANES this afternoon in the Stanley Cup Play-Offs. Can I just say this here and now? There is NO PROFESSIONAL SPORT ON THE PLANET THAT IS FASTER THAN NHL HOCKEY!
Sorry Bowlers and Golfers. (I'm kidding).
But seriously, is there anything quite like the speed of Hockey?
When you have men over 6' tall who weight 200 plus pounds hurtling down the ice at tremendous speeds and firing a puck like a freaking missile? I'm sorry, there's nothing like Play-Off Hockey.
I admit, I'm a fair weather fan when it comes to Hockey, Basketball, and Baseball. But when it's deep in the PLAY-OFFS? I'm all in! GO BRUINS! *God Please forgive me. I'll be in enemy territory next week.
The Carolinas?!?!
SPRING and SUMMER of 2019 is looking GREAT!
I'm a BIG CARS fan. Love the band. So stoked to see this show and tribute.
This my friends is a MUST SEE SHOW! I have seen these guys every year since 1990. True. I love this band. Always have always will. I was trying to describe them to a friend the other day and it really is almost impossible. I mean there is no definitive record that I could recommend you to listen to. You'd have to do a series of them. Like GRETCHEN GOES TO NEBRASKA, followed by FAITH HOPE AND LOVE. Then the self titles LP KING'SX. Then you'd have to pick up DOG MAN and EAR CANDY. Oh what am I saying. Go buy them all! They are all GREAT. But if you had to select a few. These would be the ones to buy.
The DVD's are available at all the local surf shops. Or by
sending me an email. ralph@adlantic.com or send a check for $20.00 made out to ADLANTIC and send it here:
ADLANTIC
c/o OC Studio Suites
703 Ocean Blvd Suite C-4
Hampton, NH 03842
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.
On Monday April 15th, 2019 the BLOG officially turned 15! FIFTEEN YEARS without missing a single week. This was the BIG Blog that I was mentioning weeks ago. HUNDREDS of NEW Pics and Old ones too. There's at least FOUR NEW Videos.
It's all in celebration of 15 years.
I've enjoyed every single week, every month, and every year!
|
