I guess the fact that if you are reading this column today, means that you were not taken away last night during "The Rapture." Whew! That was a close one. Though I think the Boston Bruins may have had some kind of Rapture voodoo go down in Tampa Bay yesterday afternoon. Let's hope they can recover by Monday Night.

I heard nothing about this so called "End Of The World" scenario until I received an email from a friend of mine who said that if the world didn't end he would celebrate his birthday today. Peter Stokes. His birthday is today and he's 62 years old. But more importantly, he is celebrating 50 years of surfing. FIFTY YEARS. That's amazing. That's great Peter. How many of you have already decided many years ago that you would surf forever? I know I have. Peter has crossed that 50 year mark.

And if you know Peter you know that he's got at least another 25 years left.

That's not that unusual. Surfing into your 80's and even your 90's. If you take care of yourself. And if you keep that stoke burning. (No pun intended there Peter). His last name is Stokes. But seriously, I know Peter and I know he's stoked. I see him on every decent swell. He surfs all over the Northern New England coastline. And he's perpetually stoked.
He even travels to Tavarua Island every year. And that is no small feat. At any age.

Peter charges big waves around the world and his son Emlyn is a BIG WAVE Hellman at Mavericks. I can see Peter surfing for 75 years. But for the time being 50 years is quite an accomplishment Peter. And we are all stoked that you are still surfing, and surfing with style and heaps of Stoke. Can't wait till you hit the 75 year mark.

You know it actually dawned on me when Peter sent that email to me that I've been surfing for (gulp) 47 years. Unless my math is a little fuzzy. I started in 1964...and well it's 2011. I also started playing guitar that year. So I guess I really have been around the block a few times. But realizing that in 3 years I will have been surfing for 50 years has really motivated me to keep this stoke burning in me.

In 2014 I will have reached 50 Years! That's kind of mind boggling to me.

In fact, I never feel that I am as old as I am until I walk by a mirror and see it for myself. Then it's like "Whoa! Who's that guy?" It's almost like seeing strangers in my home.Then of course my latest injuries resulting in some serious scars...well, my beautiful days are behind me for sure. But my stoke? That hidden burning desire to want to get up and out and do things? That is still very strong. So yes, I can see me surfing for 50 years.

Not sure about 75 years. But 50? Hell yea I can. And I will. Thanks Peter for the inspiration. And for those of you who are getting older (and hello YOU are all getting older) this should be a motivation for you guys as well. Peter and Ralph and anyone else out there who is over 50 years old and still surfing. There's your motivation kids. It's right there in front of you.

You can surf forever if you want to. The only thing stopping you is you.

I know there are many of you who follow my daily blog, and there are quite of few of you who follow me on Facebook. But I also know, there are many who do not read the Daily Blog, or follow RPOTW on Facebook. So without seeming to be redundant here to those who do, I feel as though I need to explain to those who are NOT aware of the photo that was taken exactly one week ago today. The rest of you can read on or skip down to the weekly pics. But I'm letting all of you know what happened last week.

As some of you may or may not know. I got hurt pretty bad on May 6th, 2011 at 10th Street at the Wall. My board hit me in the head requiring all kinds of medical attention and a lot of pain and uncomfortable days that followed. I had to keep my head dry in the water. (Doing my Catch A wave For Molly campaign). It was difficult but not impossible. I had to get my Black longboard repaired because my head hit the rail so hard that it caused a huge ding in the board. It was nasty all around.

I gave the board to Mike Stanek and he did an amazing job repairing the board. In fact you can't tell where the ding was. I got the board back within days but the swell had come up and well, I'm a versatile surfer. I can ride both a longboard and short board albeit not very good, but I can ride both. The surf was good size that following week so I opted for my short board. I did not ride Big Black until last Sunday, May 15th, 2011.

And last Sunday it was pouring rain out there. I pulled up at 10th Street and checked the surf it was small. Only about knee to thigh high. And it was pouring out. I mean it was really coming down. There was no one out at 10th Street. There were a couple of guys on SUPs down at 14th Street. I saw my friend Lenny who was at the house on the corner. He was attending a birthday party for one of the local young surfers...who just so happened to be crossing the street from a quick session. I ran over and took o photo of he and I together.

Then I got Big Black out of my vehicle and placed it on the Wall. I took a photo of the board with all the water beads on the bottom. *All of this is on my Daily Blog and there are photos there as well. Then I headed out. No hood, but still wearing boots and gloves. I hit the water and felt the air temperature drop. I thought it was a combination of the driving rain and me being somewhat apprehensive about riding that board again.

I let two waves go by and then I saw a left come at me. Now it should be noted that it was a left that I got hurt on a week prior. I caught the wave and felt really unsure of myself as I stood up. Then I felt my confidence come back and I even spoke out loud.."I'm OK.. I can do this...I'm back on Big Black!" I saluted and then I went right back out and caught a wave for the birthday boy. I got out of the water and waved to the SUP guys. They never saw me. I put Big Black in the vehicle and I felt good. I had gotten over another little bump in the road.

I got home and saw that there was something on my windshield. A Whoopee Pie? Huh?

I told my wife and she said that our friend Barbara Savastano had left it there for me. Unbeknownst to me, she had been calling my wife all day asking when I would be heading down to catch my wave. She wanted to surprise me. *For the record Barbara makes great Whoopee Pies. She is moving to Hawaii and she wanted me to have one last Whoopee Pie. How sweet I thought. And how delicious. I wolfed it down.

What I did not know until later, was that Barbara had also taken a photo on her cell phone of my first wave. Apparently she leaned over the wall and snapped a pic at that moment. Then she posted it to Facebook and she emailed it to my wife. And this my friends is when everything just sort of slowly blew up.

This is that photo below.

Look closely. It appears that a small child is standing behind me. Placing a hand on my back supporting me. It should not take that much imagination. Look at the photo. What do you see? Could this be a dust particle or a scratch on the lens? Yes. We did however ask Barbara to show us her cellphone the next day to check on all the other photos. There was NO scratches or smudges on any of the other pics. Could it be a piece of debris that just landed there at that moment? Yes. But what are the odds of that? And knowing what we know?

1. This is a fundraiser for a little surfer Girl named Molly.
2. She was 5 years old when she passed away.
3. It was my first time riding that board since I got hurt on May 6th and I was really apprehensive about surfing on it again.
4. It was pouring rain out. And I felt a drop in the air temperature when I paddled out and sat on my board.
5. And two openings down, Molly's dad BUCK was out surfing on his SUP.*I did not know this at the time.
6. Molly's Mother Meighan was having a difficult day on Sunday.
7. I always place my hand on Molly's name at 18th Street.
8. The photographer is not skilled in photoshop or any other photo enhancing programs. And she shot it on her cellphone.
9. There was a small 6 year old child murdered in Hampton the day before.
10. That morning I wore my Molly T-Shirt. I only wear that shirt on special events. In fact, I even said to myself, "why am I wearing this?"
11. And the one thing, that only my family and just my really close friends know. And that is, I have had similar things happen to me in my life, things that are simply unexplainable.
From my days as a young boy, to my time spent in War, to so many other things, including loved ones who have passed away, from my best friend Joe to my mother Eva. Too many and too detailed to discuss here. Suffice it to say, they have all been head scratchers.

Am I saying that this is Molly? No. Am I saying that this is NOT Molly? No.

I honestly don't know what this all means. I do believe that Molly is in a world that is transparent from our own existing world. But her world does exist. Heaven or whatever it is you believe, does exist. I believe in things that we do not understand. But I believe.

Everything that was written above is true. These are the facts. There can be no denying any of this. It happened just as I described them. You can formulate your own opinion. I will not question your take on this. I respect your own individual opinions. It is after all, a lot to swallow. The implications of this being Molly is rather significant. And quite frankly, it is hard to say it out loud, for fear of being ridiculed. But this happened my friends. All of it. Just as I described it. I swear on the souls of my late parents. This is all true.

And so my friends once again, surfing has become something bigger and more significant than just the art of surfing. It has become a vehicle for something far greater than the sensation of riding a wave. The power and healing of our ocean is real. Is it any wonder why I always end with this? "Surfing Heals All Wounds" There should not be.
Because it does.....

Now for some of my Weekly Global Observances:
OK so the Rapture never happened. I don't know a single soul who thought it would. Still there are plenty of loony birds out there who believe anything they hear. The Nutcase 89 year old who was making these predictions is back tracking now. Whatever.

There seems to be a lot sex scandals this week in the world of wacky Celebs and politicians. And in some cases they are both. First the former IMF Chief Dominique Strauss Khan was arrested in New York for attempting to rape a maid. I will reserve judgment on this until all the details come out. You just never know about these things until the whole story is put out there. My guess is he's guilty. But you never know. This could be one of those elaborate set-ups.

Speaking of sex with maids...WTF was Arnold Schwarzenegger thinking about? Are you kidding me? Come on Arnold. I mean COME ON! Dude you went from the Terminator to the Sperminator. Now you are going to have to deal with the Fall-out. I don't think "You'll Be Back...: But who knows. The attention span of our society is minutes long. You could come back.

I see that Mel Gibson is making a comeback. His latest movie has him talking to puppets. Didn't he get in trouble with that puppet in his pants? You gotta love these Celeb Losers.

The Bruins let a 3-0 lead slip away in yesterday's Play-Off game against the Tampa Bay Lightening. The series is now tied 2-2. I just got back on the Bruins Fan Train. I don't want to jump off. But I need to see the killer instinct take over. The trouble with some Boston based teams is they don't know how to step on an opponents neck and apply pressure. You can't let these opponents back in the game. You have to put them away when they are hurt.
That's War and that's sports. Hey maybe I should be a coach huh? Nah...

ANNOUNCEMENTS: THE RUN REDUX IS OUT! Pick one up in the shops or email me and order one directly or go to www.surffreeordie.com
CONGRATS to Jess Ritchie UNH Graduate!!!
Congrats to Colin Sullivan UNH Grad!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY Rich Appel May 21st!!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY Peter Stokes May 22nd!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY Sean McIsaac May 23rd!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY Steve Dillon May 24th!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY JJ Huggins May 24th!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY Tom Miller May 24th!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY John Grasso May 26th!
REST IN PEACE Randy "Macho Man" Savage.

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

Ralph

(Above) Unknown on a Red longboard. It is I suppose waist high.
May 21, 2011. Photo By RALPH * Click on the photo above to see the Whole Gallery.

(Above) Tavarua Cloudbreak. Winter 2010. Photo courtesy of Peter Stokes
* Click on the photo above to see the Whole READERS Gallery.

THE "CATCH A WAVE FOR MOLLY" video by JOE CARTER and
GET IN THE VAN is NOW on the SURFER'S JOURNAL Website and
now the ESPN website too! Wow!
To see it on this site go to the Molly Page.

http://www.surfersjournal.com/journal_entry/molly-motivation

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(Above) Dan Healy GWOT Hero US NAVY SEAL who died in 2005 in Afghanistan. Coming Next Week our SPECIAL Annual MEMORIAL DAY Column of Surfers who have died for our country. Photo courtesy of the Healy Family. COMING NEXT WEEK!