Old Friends, New Laws, and Sexy Gorillas.

I surprised myself the other night. I was at the Wall shooting some fun little waves and talking story, when a man walks up and places his mug about a half a foot away from my face. I turned and looked at him and then went back to talking with friends.

But I felt his presence, so I turned again and he was looking straight at me with a blank look on his face. "Jimmy Gray?" I blurted out. "Hello Ralph." What the...I hadn't seen Jimmy in decades. The surprise was I was able to remember him, and his name, in a matter of seconds.

Jimmy was part of the old crew back in the 60's and 70's. To say I was floored would be an understatement. I was all of that and more.
He knew the late Joe Somogyi very well, Dickie Burns, Steve Clark, Zetturburg, and a host of others. He was in town with his lovely wife for his mother's 90th birthday. He was so stoked because he got his grandson into surfing that day. And the best thing? Jimmy still surfs. Albeit on a longboard, but he is still out there. Getting wet and feeling the pure stoke of riding a wave.



Of course we talked about the old days. Then Kevin walked up. It
was one of those special moments in a old surfer's life when you reconnect with an old friends. I'm sure we were all smiling from ear
to ear. How could we not?

Then Jimmy pulled out his smart phone.

He handed me the phone after dialing up one of our old friends,
Jeff "Berts" Obst. Berts lived right across the Wall at 10th street.
So now I found myself talking with "Berts" while Kevin and Jimmy got caught up. Sadly, Jeff does not surf anymore, but Jimmy was all over him about getting him back out there. Surfers never give up on old friends who used to surf.

Jimmy is one of the transplants that lived here and then moved to California. He tunes in weekly to this blog to catch up on things. I
hear that so much from long lost NH surfers. This is after all, our home. It was great seeing Jimmy and his family for that short window. And just like that, he was gone again. Back to the West Coast.

You know what I always say, "it's a small world, but I'd hate to have
to paint it."

The country went ballistic the other day, when the supreme court
voted to allow Gay marriages in all 50 states. While this has no affect on me personally, I am happy for those who have been waiting a lifetime for this day. I hear wedding bells everywhere.



Today is the 10th Anniversary of Operation Red Wings. 11 NAVY SEALS and 8 ARMY NIGHT STALKERS were killed on June 28th, 2005 in the Hindu Kush in Afghanistan. One of the SEALS who was killed that day was Dan Healy from Exeter.



The LONE Survivor was Marcus Luttrell. There was a book about that day,and a movie. LONE SURVIVOR. It's important that we remember their sacrifices, and the immense sacrifices of their loved ones. Ten years ago today.



I remember one time in Boot Camp when one of the recruits in my platoon got mad and called me a "Yankee!" And I was "Yankee? You mean like the civil war Yankee or the NY Yankees?" He meant the Civil War. Some of those boys are still living the Civil War. Crazy.
Take the flag down and put it in a museum.

Have you heard about the Gorilla in Japan that all the Japanese women are flocking to see? Apparently the large male Silver-back
is a sexy beast and the girls are swooning over him..



Shabani is drawing the crowds with his sexy body and macho face. Those women better be careful, the last time a woman fell for a big Gorilla, all hell broke out. And the poor Ape was shot and killed by airplanes in NYC.



Finally, the show at Flatbread was fun the other night. My granddaughter came down to check it out. I don't know who had
more fun, me or Sweet Pea?



She knew when to clap. And boy did she clap. She clapped with enthusiasm. Too funny. It was pretty special.

"Surfing, Gay Rights, and Gorillas Heals All Wounds"