Saturday, July 25, 2009

Huntington

I never meant to find myself walking through a sea of people that included priests, construction workers, joggers and an array of weathered surfers. Yet here i was at Huntington beach on the afternoon Fred Hemmings was inducted into the Surfers Hall of Fame.
I stopped, leant against my guitar case and took a moment to breathe and listen. As this happened i heard the eloquent words of Mr Hemmings wash across the corner street crowd.

"Who are we as surfers?" he mused, "We are Scientists, Artists, Businessmen and women, mothers and fathers...most of all we are a tribe of people that share in a common delight..."or words to such effect. It was beautiful and it summed up the situation we all found ourselves in.

With the US open unfolding on the beach out front, i saw Kelly Slater get mobbed by a crowd as he came in from a heat win, Rob Machado go and find a peak to himself during his slow heat. It was all happening and there were so many people from all walks of life...Truth be told i found the sun and crowds a tad overwhelming. So i found Jon Wegener, helped him set up his humble stall filled with paulownia offerings, then jumped in his overcrowded 'tradies' four-runner and we split!

It sure was a circus down there but you can always learn a hell of alot at the circus.

Sunday, July 12, 2009

so cal

driven to the earth
wing and wheel
through cities
beyond the hills

Tomorrow I will have spent a week in San Diego, CA. Today i saw a man holding a sign that read "broke traveler, anything will help". I thought he might like my hat to shield his burnt face from the sun...he declined politely. That speaks volumes about my hat.
This week i plan to travel north and have a little look, meeting friends and making new in LA.