Fast Times in Montezuma

It's been almost a month since we moved to New Mexico.
In that time, I've come to appreciate drier air, bluer skies during the day, starrier skies at night, hummingbirds by the drove at our little feeder outside our front window, and a hiking trail at the back of my driveway on which a 15 minute hike leads up to a spot where I can see clear across the sundrenched plains of New Mexico.

I recently spent 3 days at Ghost Ranch on hwy 84 in northern New Mexico. We took the whole student body there for some orientation activities. How amazing it was to look up to the cliffs painted in such vibrant colors that it even makes your eyes question themselves upon looking. We swam in a deep turquoise lake, rode mountain bikes through the desert, played music at night, and my motorcycle brought me home safe to Kelley and her parents who were in town for a visit while I was gone.

So this is where my mind is upon class starting this coming Tuesday. I'm still marvelling at the beauty of this new place that Kelley and I can now call home. Soon the focus will turn to lessons, labs, extracurricular activities, marking papers, and the business that surrounds such a culturally and academically rich environment as the UWC. I can only pray that God gives me the faith to depend on Him daily for the strength that Kelley and I both need to survive out here.

cheers,
jeff

Surfing so good, a lady took her top off!

So there we were...patrick and I...in some of the best surf we've had yet in SC. The waves were long, tall, and we were catching rides right and left.

I actually finally was able to turn down the wave and ride the face...talk about hangin' loose!

Then...towards the peak of the high tide, some people from Michigan swam out into the breakers and joined us for a bit. For one of the middle-aged women, it was her first time in the ocean and you could tell. "Damn! this water is salty!", she said. "They sure knew what they were talking about!"

They got closer and closer to Patrick and I because there was a slight riptide pulling them down the beach. When they got to me, I politely told them that we had been waiting on these waves all day and that we would probably hang out there a while, if they didn't mind. "Good" one of them said, "we'd like to watch!" I told them that we sucked at surfing, and suggested that they might just enjoying us wipe out. I then (also politely) warned them that if they kept swimming between us and the shore, they'd probably get hit by the surfboards. The middle-aged woman's response was "honey, if you mean to tell me something, you might as well just come out and say it. I'm from Michigan and if you're trying to tell me to get the hell off of your wave..." "Get the hell off of my wave!" I interrupted with a big smile. She laughed hard and I caught a couple of more really good SC waves...unseasonably good in fact.

As I paddled back out into the surf...the Michiganites had drifted back into our area and this time the woman shouted "Don't you come over here surfer dude" as she proceeded to swing her recently removed bathing suit (a one-piece by the way) over her head like a lasso.

Patrick and I laughed and laughed at the slightly uncomfortable situation and kept surfing to the sounds of "ride'em cowboy" coming from the middle-aged, naked, toothless woman.

So there you have it...the boys from Columbia have gotten so good at surfing that a lady took her top off.

Back in the waves

It's been roughly a year since my first surfing experience. Kelley and I have really been enjoying our summer vacations with her parents and we're at Fripp island again for one last east coast hoorah before we take off for New Mexico.

I rented a little 7'3" fun shape foam board from the local rinky dink beach shop. The guys there are super nice and definitely family-oriented.

My brother-in-law (Patrick) and I went surfing (or trying to surf) out at the Fripp beach today...it was flat, choppy and confused, so we relocated in the afternoon to Hunting Island. The change in surf was amazing to say the least. Some of the waves were really great and I got up more times than I could count. Which is really what it's all about! A little tanner, a little more worn-out, and definitely more in touch with my zen...I left the beach happy and feeling accomplished in my still-newbie-surfer status.

Today I focused on trying to turn down the face of the wave. A couple of times I actually got up early enough on the wave to turn down it successfully...but these waves still are way to short to enjoy a real long ride. My rides today lasted between 2 and 12 seconds tops.

we'll see what the tide brings in tomorrow!

just some new pics from hiking in new mexico

a view to the south where you can see the resevoir.



just a hiking "shrine". put a rock on the pile when you pass by....mine's the red one on top.



can you see the coyote? click on the picture for a bigger view...it's fuzzy, but he's standing on the right edge of the clearing.



Bear tracks! probably an adolescent bear at best, but it rained really heavy around 4am this morning...this picture was taken at 5:40pm. So the bear is "in the area" :)



a nice rainbow at the end of my hike. Ah...new mexico...the land of enchantment.

A diversion from the Tao of Joe

I'm in New Mexico for a week! The main purpose is training in the International Baccalaureate curriculum in biology (which is definitely intense and taking most of my daily time). But let me just say that the faculty I have had conversations with, the hikes I have been on, the feeling I got when I walked into what will be Kelley and my house in 3 weeks...all these experiences have been nothing less than complete affirmations that our journey to the American West and the United World College is completely part of God's plan for us.

I'm really sad to leave Kelley home this week and have to do all this alone, but she'd be bored with the meetings and wanting to get the house set up anyway, which is understandable.

I won't go on anymore than just to say that I hope life continues to progress in an upward motion from here. This is amazing and a dream come true in that I can now fully provide for my family, live in a nurturing evironment for my wife and my soon-to-be munchkin, give myself to both family and job without feeling like either is a "job", and live in some of God's most mysterious, haunting, and beautiful country.

peace,
jeff

Chapter 2 continued - "The Wave"

...

3) Catching the wave

So you've paddled out, you've been waiting around for a while...and if you're like me...it's usually on my back checking out the cloud patterns or something you know?! Totally...as a matter of fact, I'm probably not the one to give you advice at all on how to actually catch the wave man. For me, a good wave usually just finds me and the whole "drop in" thing just happens. He yeah!...I remember so many of those rad cloud patterns. Some of the big white fluffy ones can take so many shapes! penguins, squid, coconuts, fire urchins, chickens...oh...sorry...andyway.
For a lot of people, I hear that they have to start paddling in the same direction as the wave...matching its energy, and then pop up when they feel the surge of the wave under their board. That sounds good too bro.

Life application - If you can learn to enjoy whatever you find yourself doing (and there is usually some element of everything can can be enjoyed or that is at least interesting in a cool sort of way) then life stops seeming like a series of tasks to get through, and becomes so rich with experience and opportunity to learn.

4) Helping the surfer-in-need

You know dude...life would be pretty boring if there weren't other surfers to enjoy it with. I'm not one of those territorial chickens, you know...always guarding the surf like I own the waves at a certain beach. Heck no bra...I've learned about the KAVU lifestyle! "Become a local...worldwide". In fact, it's that mentality that took me to Antarctica where I met my bud Cody. Anywho...one of the most crucial parts of surfing (other than having a blast) is meeting all the other cool surfers out there...on the beach...in the surf...whether they're shredding it up or whether it's shredding THEM up! We've always got to be there for each other so that surfing continues to be FUN and not something that keeps emergency rooms filled. So dude...if you're riding that perfect wave and another guy (or chick) is flailing in the soup (the "soup", by the way is all of the churned up water where a wave set crashes...you can get stuck in it sometimes if you're not careful), you've got to step in and help them out. Who knows!? you might just meet your next best friend bro!

Life Application - uh...pretty obvious here bro, but... RELATIONSHIPS ARE WHAT GIVES LIFE ITS MEANING. You can't just paddle out and ride 'em in alone all the time.

Keep contributing to the collective pool of individuals that make you a part of something greater than yourself.

Chapter 2 - The Wave

So dude, I've decided to go ahead skip all the useless crap so that I can share the ways of the wise surfer right up front. (in case you stop reading this "book" because the surf is up for a while)

Check this simply analogy: Life = The Wave

Steps to catching a wave(and how surfing can apply to life)
1) paddle out - lay flat on the board with your weight centered, use long, slow, and smooth paddling strokes to get you out into the surf. Don't paddle OVER the big surf...simply push the nose of your board down and paddle under the crest of the wave. Don't fight it man, just torpedo right under it.

- Life application - when preparing for any new curve that life throws at you, keep your eyes on the eventual goal and take small, purposeful, effective steps at getting there. Don't beat yourself against the problem that you're facing, just use your head to help you think your way through it.

2) wait for "the" wave - At most beaches around the world, waves come in sets. Depending on the weather, tide, or lunar phase, these sets can vary. Sometimes the ocean will be completely flat, whereas ,on other days, every wave in a set will be "the" wave. Regardless, at some point, you're going to have to figure out how to sit and wait. Bra, you've seen the surfers at the beach...sitting out there in the waves on their boards...waiting for what seems like forever. You've got to pick the right wave carefully...even artfully. Waiting takes skill too dude...if you TRY and balance on your board while sitting, you'll most likely just tank and get a lungful of water. You've got to completely let go and, in that zen-like fashion, find a calm that will allow you to absorb all pitch and roll from the waves under your board...then you just sit in the flux and wait...there's no stress here, because you're just as calm as a chicken from cheboygan...chillin' out.


- Life application - So if "life = the wave" then you're already in the thick of it by the time that you're waiting for your set. Life is tossing you about as you're trying to stay calm so that you can choose the best path, dude. If I've told one chicken, I've told a thousand, you've got to stay calm when things get a little choppy out there. How else will you maintain your clear head to think through the situation and make the right choice on what to do? It's totally like being calm in the surf when you're sitting your board, bro. You've got to just chill and wait for life to present the right wave to you...then there will be no question of what to do...ride that sucker!


...more to come...