The intermittent friendly rain softly pattering on the cold asphalt gave Jose Bacallao and I a light dousing of fresh water before we made our way into the salty ocean, joining a previously solo Kris Hall in a quick session of small Southside of the Hermosa pier waves.
The sky was grey, the water was grey, the air was grey, the pilings were grey, and the sand even looked grey. Â But Jose and I shone through the gloom with our bright boards and gear and did our best to light up the morning, weaving lines in the friendly waves in between watching Kris live up on the nose and partaking in some airy conversation.
As soon as it began it seemed to be over, Jose needing to bounce off to work and only having time for a quick 30 minute session. Â Even with all of the what some might call “work” involved — the loading of boards, the time consuming task of putting your wetsuit on, walking across the sand with a heavy log of fiberglass, having to shower the salt off — even 20 minutes in the ocean is worth the troubles.
