Endless Session, Day 325: But I’m So Close
Feeling a little unsteady. Photo by www.bumpsetsurf.com on Day 226
Dragging my board across the stretch of beach in the wind blown afternoon, I felt like I was wading through thick mud, even though the sand was barely covering my feet. The deep, piercing pain in my badly sprained shoulder was in that moment making my mission of surfing a year in a row rather daunting, and thoughts have been crossing my mind about whether or not continuing is worth it.
But I’m so close.
So I continued my slow steps down to the water’s edge, and paused to lay down in the sand for a moment, cheating gravity and giving my right side a small break. I tiptoed into the water, turning my back to the incoming foam explosions to give myself what protection I could. Once up to my chest, I was given the gift of near weightlessness, my arm suspended in forgiving salt. A moment of that was worth the trek.
I feel like I’m at summer surf camp again — only this time one-handed. Sitting on the inside, timing the whitewater and jumping carefully on the board at the last second. A couple of those was all I could take. This was the first day of me taking on the ocean by myself since I’d been injured, and it was making me realize that surfing is nearly impossible without help right now. Getting out, this time weighed down by not only gravity, but the weight of the ocean that was still clinging to my body, I dragged my board slowly across the sand again with difficulty, and sat in the shower, feeling a tad bit defeated, and not knowing what tomorrow will hold.