early morning sessions

a kid rips up the inside of HB Pier on a Longboard

I've been up since 3am when I stood in our upstairs bedroom and watched the fire in OC come over the top of Saddleback... pretty impressive sight from so many miles away. I was awake, so I went for a run and felt a little silly being alone on the roads in the dark. Not that I haven't done it plenty of times before... just not for awhile... and I heard coyotes around me barking at the full moon... oh my!

Early in our marriage, Debi and I lived up the street from HB Pier. She worked at Long Beach State and I taught at HB High School. Life was busy... life was just beginning a new page. Every morning began with me loading my little Bruce Jones board into my bug and drving the few blocks down to the pier, already in my wetsuit, then jumping in the water in the dark. The few of us who hit the water that early in those days called ourselves the "Gone Before Dawn Patrol." We were new in our careers and still refusing to release our grip on the ocean... or maybe the ocean just wouldn't release her grip on us.

Most mornings there'd be one or two other guys in the line up where lights on the south side allowed us to track the oncoming sets when there was no moon. Often I paddled out alone and surfed alone: 3:30am to 6 or 7am when the water began to fill up. I don't remember being scared during those early morning sessions, however, if it was big, I remember praying that someone else would begin to surf... good waves, in the dark, are better shared with someone, even if it's a stranger.

I'd run back to my bug before the sun broke the horizon- kiss Debi as she headed out to work -jump into the shower, rinsing off my wetsuit and making ready for the day, then head out to teach. The kid's would always ask the same question each morning, "How was the surf today Mr. Denton?" I'd smile and usually say something like, "You really missed it... life's so much better once you graduate... get back to work!" They must've hated me. I was loving every minute of it.

I haven't been in the ocean for ages and can't begin to imagine having the confidence to surf the pier in the dark... I'd struggle in the light of day... but this shot brought back so many good memories of watching groms rip up the inside. Looks' like they're still doing it. Made me think of this old song by Grateful Dead. Check out the song of the day on the sidebar, enjoy.

We live through so many adventures that it's easy to forget they ever happened... that we were ever really there. Cue up the song and think back on a time when you enjoyed early mornings... seeing this picture, hearing this song, lit a fire in me- and I saw a fire from my window this morning... maybe I'll hit the pier first thing in the morning... or not.

Eric
Click to hear music file