Surfing

I've missed my blog over the last few months so I've decided to start writing it again. I don't have anything profound to say today so I think I'll just go off about whatever is on my mind and hopefully you'll all have patience with me while I get back into the swing :)

OK so I am the world's worst surfer. Seriously I can barely stand up on the sidewalk forget about the tippy board rushing toward the beach at a million miles an hour. But I absolutely love it every time I do it. I love the ocean. I love getting all geared up in the wetsuit. I love that I feel like I am just playing in the waves and I come home bone weary like I've just spent 4 hours in the gym. I especially love that the first time I tried it I was 46 years old... OK I wish I'd done it sooner...but I'm proud to be the nutty old lady who is willing to get out there with the kids and give it a try.

Surfing is my kind of sport. The people who do it are a little odd (and I fit right in with that crowd!), there is absolutely nothing competitive about it...at least on the baby beaches I can surf, and you get to do it in the ocean. It's up there with my all time favorite ways to spend an afternoon...except for one tiny problem.

I have this condition called Reynaud's Phenomenon. It's nothing serious but it means I get colder than most people faster than most people and once I get cold I stay cold. My hands turn white, my lips turn blue, and I can't feel my feet...at all. I look like I have all the symptoms of hypothermia and every surfing instructor I've ever had immediately wants to haul me out of the water and pour hot tea down my throat.

I don't have hypothermia!!! I don't!! Yes I'm cold (and somewhat pathetic looking with my bright blue lips and white fingers). But if I paid attention to my Reynaud's I'd never get to ski or scuba dive or any of a hundred other pastimes that I really enjoy. So please don't make me get out of the water! I want to surf! Because someday I swear to you I'll be able to stand up on that stinking (or should I say sinking) board!