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Got
good surf pics? Send em off to me directly. (See link below) Just make sure they're 650-700 pixels wide. NO bigger NO smaller. In fact if you have any questions about the size, email me first and I'll write back. Start shooting crackie!! Ralph's Pic Of The Week |
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If you want to access the Pic of the week from past weeks click here. Archives |
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September
14th, 2008 The NEW Ralph's Pic Of The Week Format Hurricane Erin was sitting off our coast, just spawning perfect surf, under a cloudless, clear blue, September morning sky. This day had the makings of a beautiful memorable day of surf. Instead, it became this dark day in our Nation's history. Indeed, our World History. The darkest of days, on the clearest day. 19 cowardly radical Islamic Muslim Terrorists slammed two planes into the World Trade Center in NYC and one slammed into the Pentagon while a 4th crashed into a field in Pennsylvania. I remember it all. As I'm sure many of you do. How could we not? Hurricane Erin was a perfect storm for us. I recall grabbing my wetsuit and shortboard along with my GL1 3ccc camera and tripod. Ironically, I left my booties at home. The day before was plenty warm enough and the water temps would on the surface seem to warrant no booties. I woke up early enough to have breakfast with my wife and kids before they headed off to school. I had finished up one last work project and then headed down the street to capture some surf on camera before joining my buddies for a beautiful really fun looking surf session. It was around 8:00AM when I asked one of my friends what the water temp was like and to my surprise he said it was cold. "How cold?" I asked. "You need boots." Was his answer. "You're kidding." I said incredulously."Nope. It got cold." "Damn, I'll have to drive back up the road to grab my dam booties." I thought to myself as I finished shooting a few more waves. Dammit, I hate it when I screw up with gear. I know it's only a slight inconvenience, but it just irks me to think that I came down to the ocean unprepared. It was around 8:40AM when I headed back home. By the time I got back it was 8:45AM. I was poking around the garage looking for my booties. After all, it had been since May when I last wore them. I found the boots and decided to refill my coffee cup. My wife was in the kitchen watching TV. "A plane crashed into the World Trade Center." She says. "How the hell did that happen?" I answer. I was thinking she meant the World Trade Center in Boston. Then I saw the image on the TV. "What the hell? That had to be intentional. Some clown had to have crashed his small plane into the building on purpose to piss someone off." I blurted out. Of course, I had no idea it was a large airplane. I thought it was some small Cessna or small single seater jet or something. I went down to my office on the lower level to grab another tape, and on the way back up, a friend of mine called. "Are you watching TV?" he asked. "Yes I saw it. What do you suppose happened there?" I asked him. My friend was a fellow Veteran and he was also a pilot. That's when I heard my wife gasp. "A second plane hit!" "What?
The hell???" I said as I stood there staring in disbelief. Then the
words came out of my mouth that I would echo the rest of the day. "We're
at War!" I heard my buddy Victor get frantic on the other end. "Vic
I've got to go. I'll call you back." I went over and stood by my
wife in complete shock and disbelief. "My God we're at war!" I gave my wife a kiss and then headed out the door. "I've got to go tell my friends who are out surfing and don't know. We're at War!" So I became the town crier that morning, stopping every person who went into the water and everyone who came out. My message was the same. "We're at war!" The stunned looks on everyone's faces will stay with me forever. As the morning crept along, we noticed the eerie stillness in the air. There were no planes flying. Even in and out of PEASE which is usually active, was grounded. We listened to the radio. WBCN and the voice of Howard Stern became our connection to what was unfolding in the world. It was surreal to say the least. Perfect waves unfolding in the near distance, while thousands of innocent civilians were dying. The absolute helpless feeling that overtook us all was numbing. I remember the knot in my stomach that morning. Not for those who were already dead and dying but for those men and women in uniform who would be ultimately going off to battle these evil sons of bitches. If they were this evil to kill innocent civilians one could only imagine what the near future would bring. Then we all thought about our friends who were flying that day. Our good buddy Bobby Morgan was in the air flying to Mexico for a surf trip. None of us knew what airline or flight he was on. Those tense moments of waiting word on Bobby was another stark reminder of the helplessness we all felt that morning. We found out later that Bobby was safe. They landed his plane along with hundreds of other flights that morning. Bobby was safe. Another local surfer was not so lucky. Bob Hayes. Married with two young sons Bob was flying to LA on a business trip. He was on American Airlines Flt 11 out of Boston's Logan Airport. Bob's plane hit the first tower. And all the while, the surf kept pouring in.
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If you were out that morning you know exactly what I'm talking about. The strange eerie feeling of wanting to surf yet wanting to crawl up into a ball and pray this was just a bad dream. A nightmare that we would all wake up from. It was an awakening much like what happened on December 7th, 1941. Only this was happening in real time. We watched on live TV thousands of Americans dying. The brave Firefighters and Police in NYC that morning. The countless acts of heroism at the Pentagon. The incredible courage on Flt 93 over Pennsylvania Do you remember? Do you also remember the days that followed? How everyone flew their flags. How we all stood together and actually became United. Do you remember? Well, I do. I remember the silent patriots who by the hundreds of thousands, enlisted in the US Military to volunteer to fight this new shadowy enemy. Do you remember? Some of those brave Americans who enlisted in the Armed Forces were from New Hampshire. And some of them have paid the ultimate price for their willingness to fight for our freedom. And some of them were surfers. There are 34 names etched on a Memorial Monument in front of the American Legion Hall in Hampton that bears their names. That Global War on Terrorism Memorial monument was born from the ashes of 9- 11- 2001. We won't forget them. Not then. Not now. Not ever. Do
we really need another wake up call of that magnitude to shake us back
into reality? I wouldn't think so. But something tells me, that a good
portion of our society has hit the "snooze" button on our Reality
Alarm Clock. So I know a bunch of you (like me) were secretly hoping that Hurricane Ike had taken a sharp right turn after slamming through the Caribbean. None of us wanted to see that storm head into the Gulf. Now I'm quite certain that they Gulf Coast got some surf before during and possibly after the surge hit. I'm also certain that the damage was more than likely devastating to so many others. Hurricanes.
You just pray that they would spin aimlessly out to sea for a few days
and them move on into open water and die a peaceful death. None of us
want to see death and destruction to any country, or their people. Last week I expressed some serious concern about the potential trouble in Patriots Nation, As most of you already know, Tom Brady is hurt. The Patriots QB was injured last week against the CHIEFS. It did NOT look good. And I mentioned how I could care less about the team this year, and after last year's devastating loss to the Giants in the Super Bowl, I was officially off the band wagon. Well, I felt bad for Brady, and I found myself suddenly interested in the team again under Matt Cassell at QB. What the hell? Why Not? And Matt Cassell has not let us down yet. He won last week, and he won today against the J-E-T-S JETS and Brett Farve. Look Matt's NO Tom Brady and he's no Tony Eason. He might be somewhere in the middle. And right now. That's not bad. Can we win the Division? Sure. Can we win the AFC? Who knows? Can we win (gulp) the Super Bowl? Maybe. But I do know this. We're in 1st Place in the AFC East. I want to thank the surfers who came out on Thursday September 11, 2008 to the Local American Legion POST 35 for their third annual GWOT Dedication. The Veterans from the State of New Hampshire who were killed in the GWOT since last September 11, 2007 had their names added to the monument outside the Post building. HAWAII
COMES TO THE NH SEACOAST An Evening of Aloha with the Makaha Sons and Friends, presented by Cinnamon Rainbows Surf Company will return to the Meehan Center for the Performing Arts at the Cooperative Middle School in Stratham/Exeter, NH on Saturday, September 20 at 7PM. The night of music will include hula performances by Hui Na Kawaiuaili and Kealo Koko, with musical performances by Margo Reola, Barry Kimokeo, three time Grammy Award Winner Daniel Ho and the Makaha Sons. Tickets
are $25 and $30 and are available on line through makahasons.com or Kikenei
Productions PO Box 352, Hampton, NH 03842. For more info call 603-812-1514
or email savvylaw@comcast.net. Remember
my friends...Surfing heals all wounds.... |
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Yesterday
September 11, 2001
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