God Provides
I realized today that I don't love surfing at El Porto. It's the most consistent spot in LA for the greater part of the year, but almost every session is harrowing in some way. Long paddle-out, powerful waves that often close out, standout sets that make your heart drop to your stomach -- it's rarely a nice, easy-going session at El Porto. But still, we keep returning, because sometimes this is the only surfable spot in Los Angeles.
Today, I went and it was on the smaller side, but no exception in force and paddle-out length. Because of the size, I was riding the Wavestorm, which is almost impossible to duck dive well. And so, whenever a giant wave swamped me, I did what no surfer should ever do and ditched the board to dive under the wave. That's right: I broke one of the cardinal rules of surfing. To justify myself, I always took a good look behind me to make sure my board wouldn't hit anyone. So there.
If karma is your king, however, I was served for my sins. On a particularly big wave that I couldn't paddle fast enough to beat, I stood on the board to get a better dive, let my board fly, and felt the unmistakable release of a snapped leash on the other side. Thankfully, it didn't get too far away from me before I could catch up, but this is always a bummer, especially in the middle of a surf session. I lasted another twenty minutes or so before jumping off a steep closeout, watching my board toss and turn in the whitewater on the way to shore, and calling it a day.
Anyway, all that long explanation (I love a good story with details!) was to get to the part where I tied my leash together, anticipating that I would forget I had snapped it for the next surf session. But it turns out I didn't need to, because I found a leash on the sidewalk! No one was around, and it was used, but in perfectly useable shape. A higher quality and better brand than the one I was using, this was a Godsend! Which is my point: lose a leash, gain a leash. God provides our needs, but sometimes our wants as well. This isn't the first time this kind of thing has happened to me, and won't be the last I hope. So the next time you find yourself lacking something, look around -- it might be lying on the sidewalk as a little gift from Heaven.
Today, I went and it was on the smaller side, but no exception in force and paddle-out length. Because of the size, I was riding the Wavestorm, which is almost impossible to duck dive well. And so, whenever a giant wave swamped me, I did what no surfer should ever do and ditched the board to dive under the wave. That's right: I broke one of the cardinal rules of surfing. To justify myself, I always took a good look behind me to make sure my board wouldn't hit anyone. So there.
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| Taken after the 3-5 ft. session. |
Anyway, all that long explanation (I love a good story with details!) was to get to the part where I tied my leash together, anticipating that I would forget I had snapped it for the next surf session. But it turns out I didn't need to, because I found a leash on the sidewalk! No one was around, and it was used, but in perfectly useable shape. A higher quality and better brand than the one I was using, this was a Godsend! Which is my point: lose a leash, gain a leash. God provides our needs, but sometimes our wants as well. This isn't the first time this kind of thing has happened to me, and won't be the last I hope. So the next time you find yourself lacking something, look around -- it might be lying on the sidewalk as a little gift from Heaven.
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