November 9th, 2008
Veterans Day Week

I don't recall the exact date. But I do remember where and how it happened. It was at the Wall. And it was either Spring or Summer of last year. The surf was about 3-4' and the sun was shining bright. I remember I was riding my Longboard and the vibe in the water was very positive. Somehow my board became the topic of discussion.

For those of you who have never seen my Longboard, it is adorned with Military insignias. Or more specifically, The United States Marine Corps insignias. My unit and division as well as the Eagle Globe and Anchor of the USMC emblem. And a few other items. Ribbons, badges etc.

Full on Marine Corps macho stuff.

There were about a dozen of us sitting off the jetty at 10th street. Some other guy perked up and said he was an ARMY Vet. I introduced myself to him and then another guy said he was an AIR FORCE Vet and then...a fourth guy said he was a NAVY Vet. We all realized the impossible probability of four out of the Five branches of service sitting in one area surfing. The only branch missing was the COAST GUARD. Even those of you who have never served must be impressed with that scenario. But one thing was obvious. There are a lot of Veterans who surf.

Of course, I've since met and became friends with plenty more Veteran Surfers. It is a sign of the times I suppose. Although, my guess is during the Vietnam War there were probably a lot more surfers who ended up serving our country. The draft made that possible. And the fact that surfing in the 60's was pretty dam popular. The War in Vietnam lasted more than 10 years.

From 1961 to 1975.

There were a lot of surfers who went to Nam. And whole lot of them never made it back. However, there were a lot of surfers who did. I was one of them. So is Ed O'Connell who takes a lot of the surf photos you see here on this column every week. My buddy Tom Woods who lives and surfs here in Hampton is another Nam Vet.

Tom Woods and I were part of that huge Vietnam Veterans Memorial Paddle last September 2007 in San Diego. Some of you might remember seeing those photos from that event. It was to this day one of the highlights of my life.

John Carden another talented, contributing photographer of this column is a Veteran from that era as well.

OK so why am I talking Vets who surf?

Well, Tuesday November 11th, is Veterans Day. And unlike when I was in the service, it is OK to say Thank You to a Vet for serving our country. That's right. When we were in the service during the Vietnam War, you never wore your uniform in public. Hell no. That would get you nothing but grief. It's true. We were only welcomed by our families and close friends. The rest of the public did not want to see you, or hear from you.

Thank God that's all changed today.

Even those who protest this current War will open their arms and welcome home any Veteran. And I have to believe, it's all due in part to what we (Nam Vets) went through. And I don't believe we will ever have to witness that embarrassing display of shame ever again in our country towards our country's vets.

And I say Thank God to that.

The reason I'm telling you all this is because, it's a pretty good chance, that you all have a veteran in your life. And I know, this is NOT surf related, but, if you were to call that vet on Tuesday and say "Thank you for serving our country" I bet, you will not only feel pretty good about yourself. But ,also make that Vet's Day.

Do it...call the Vet in your life and say..."Thank you."

Now back to the issue at hand. Surfing. I did something this week that I have not done in quite some time. I passed on a surf session (Friday) because... it was overcast...I know, I know...what the hell was I thinking about? I can't believe it myself. I chose to NOT surf, due to the fact, that it was drizzling out and the sun was not going to make an appearance. What does that mean? Well, we've had so much surf in such good conditions that I had become spoiled and jaded.

It bothers me to have to write this.

But it's true. I looked at the surf, and looked up at the sky, and said..."Nah...I'll wait til it gets better." Forgive me my brothers and sisters. For I have passed, on head high, semi glassy surf, due to the lack of sun. What a little spoiled jerk I am.

Of course, you know what this means. I will suffer greatly because of my errant ways. I may not have a good session, the next time I paddle out. I may get into a hassle with some nut case, or lose my board into some rocks, or any number of silly things, that can go wrong in surfing. And all because I refused to paddle out in overcast conditions.

Who do I think I am...Paris Hilton? I mean really, what the hell was I thinking about?

My biggest fear now?

You already know. It could go flat. For quite a spell. And I have only myself to blame. But then again, if it goes flat for me...it goes flat for you guys too. Oh oh...just when I thought I had already upset a few of you from last week's column...I may have jinxed you with this latest. Sorry kids.

But have no fear, I think there's more surf coming. I thought I saw a freaking Hurricane in the Caribbean. Did I see that or was I dreaming? Regardless, we are on a roll with surf. And I swear the level of all of our surfing has gone up a notch or two. Say what you will about keeping in shape for surfing. But the truth is, nothing makes you a better surfer, than surfing more waves. The more you surf the better you become.

Clearly we can all agree with that.

If we could have head high or better surf every week, we'd all be getting better. And we'd also be dealing with more crowds. I guess we really can't win when it comes to this lifestyle.

Speaking of winning. There was a fun little ESA contest today at the Wall. It was cool to see the kids out surfing in November in decent surf. And make no mistake about it. Contests that have ridable surf is way better than contests that do not. Thank God the ESA's Northern New England Director Lenny Nichols understands that simple concept.

If you "build it" they will come. As in, wait for building surf.

So who won the election? I didn't hear anything. Did McCain win or Obama? I guess I'll find out soon enough...

Seriously, I need to to address some of the shit that went down in my last column. Mostly because, I still find it hard to believe, that some of you can't, for the life of me, seem to understand that this weekly column are my views only, and NOT the views of anyone else. Or more specifically, Dave Cropper and Cinnamon Rainbows.

I do want to thank all of those who sent positive emails and called me directly. There was an overwhelming percentage of you who felt the same way as I, on the election. But, there were also others who did not. Albeit, not a significant percentage compared to those who agreed, but enough, to warrant mentioning here.

And, I do want to thank the few of those who didn't agree with me, who sent those less than desirable emails. I respect those points of view. Mostly because, you had the courage to correspond with me directly. We may not agree on every issue, but at least we had a dialogue going.

And I respect you for that.

The same cannot be said of those who went crying to Dave at Cinnamon Rainbows. Especially those of you who I considered to be "friends". What are we in grade school? There's names for people like you. But I won't use them here, for fear of getting detention and having to have to stay after school.

It just seems funny to me, that some of you, who went whining to Dave said that my column about Barack's association with those individuals I wrote about, was hurting Dave and his business, due to his association with me. Huh?

Am I missing something here?

Obama's association with Resnko, Ayers, Wright and a host of others was OK, but Dave's association with me was not? I'm sorry, but I think there's something here called a "double standard" at play. And for the record? I stand by almost everything I wrote last week. Because it was my opinion. It's something we Americans used to call, Freedom of Speech.

Look, I don't know how many times I have to tell you guys this. This blog is my opinion. Are you getting this? Hello?

Hello? Is this thing on?

Ralph- " Earth to Moonbats. Earth to Moonbats. Do you read me? Please copy"

Moonbats- "Ahhh roger that Ralph, we read you...over"

Ralph- "OK listen up. That Ralph's Pic of the Week column you guys read every week?"

Moonbats- "Yes"?

Ralph- "Yea well , that's MY COLUMN!"

Moonbats- "Oh...wait... you mean, it's not Dave at Cinnamon Rainbows?"

Ralph- "That's correct. It's my column. Me. Ralph."

Moonbats- "Uhh..OK...we thought it was Dave at Cinnamon Rainbows...gee we're sorry about that"

Ralph- "No problem. Just try and remember that in the future OK? Thank you Moonbats. Over and out"

Moonbats- "OK...thanks for telling us Ralph. Over and Out."

Dave and I are friends. We've been friends for a very longtime. I have nothing but love and respect for him, and his family, and all of those who work and shop at Cinnamon Rainbows. But dammit people. It's just a link to my site that he provides. That's it. It's not Dave's words. It's me. Ralph.

I am Ralph...if you only want to see surf photos just look at the pics. But if you want to be somewhat entertained read my blog. But don't take my words so seriously. It's just a weekly blog from just another guy in the water. That's it.

One last thing, and then I'm moving on from this subject.

I Voted for John McCain . But I will support President Elect Barack Hussein Obama 100%. (By the way...I couldn't believe how many of you didn't know that Barack's middle name was Hussein. Come on people. Wake up and read the papers. There's more to life than those dam wave cams.) And for those who don't know me well enough. I ate, slept and fought in the same dirt with my best friends in Nam who were African Americans and Puerto Ricans.

Where was I?

Oh yea...I will NOT turn my back on our president. President Obama will have my complete backing. Because like McCain, it is Country First with me. I love this country. I fought for this country and I will (Unlike a lot of you BUSH haters) support our President. No matter what.

I will support President Elect Barack H. Obama 100%.

Now lets move on...

On Monday November 10th on WMUR NH TV there's a piece on JIMMY DUNN. Please tune in to see one of our own on TV. I guess there's even some footage of Jimmy surfing. Check it out or go to Jimmy's site for more info. www.jimmydunn.tv

A Eugene Cole has a new book out called HUGE SURF and it's about surfing in Maine. Check out his site.
http://hugesurf.blogspot.com/

HAPPY 233rd BIRTHDAY Monday, November 10th to:
The UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS. SEMPER FI MARINES!

Tuesday November 11th HAPPY VETERANS DAY TO ALL LIVING VETERANS ALL OVER THE GLOBE. Thank you all for your service to our country.
QWILL is available on myspace.com/qwillmusic

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

Ralph