Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Allison


I gots rid of mah paddleboard tonight.

I'm quite glad it's gone actually, but can't help but feel like I sold a piece of myself. Like growing up. I spent all last summer trying to get into the sport-- feeling ocean-lonely and landlocked. I got to use it several times and even Emily tried it once. I wouldn't mind keeping it. I'd totally use it to go get a closer look at Maverick's when it breaks this winter (if it's ever breaking on a Saturday that I have nothing else to do), but for now I had to get rid of it. We needed the money and there's no way I'd haul it up and down two flights of stairs into our 3rd floor apartment just to have it fill the living room in between sporadic uses (if it even FIT up the stairwell). Time to buy myself a shortboard, a 4mm wetsuit with gloves, booties, and hood for the ice-cold Northern California water. Mmmmmmmm. Well..... if I can ever find cheap stuff AND justify getting my $300 back out of the budget.

The board feels like my own sort of Pete's Dragon, you know the magical kind of friend that comes out of nowhere just when you needed it the most and makes your life better before heading off to find some other needy orphaned kid like me.

My biggest grief is that I don't even have any pictures of the board getting any use, just the board itself. Emily sure looked cute paddling up and down the Spanish Fork river mouth at the south end of Utah Lake that one time. I think that's my favorite memory of the board. Second favorite would be when we got attacked by the hoards of mosquitos. Emily and Grace had to hide in the car. I escaped by heading away from shore. All in all, I ended up with about 40-50 bites between the two legs that reside below my waist. Otherwise it was a beautiful, peaceful, sunset evening out on the water all quiet-like. If I got to recommend one spot in Utah Valley as the most peaceful place (besides the Provo Temple Celestial Room) it would most assuredly be Utah Lake on a quiet day. Either out in the lake or on the southern shores. Second to the temple, but not by much.

So long my friend.

1 comment:

Erik said...

Sorry you had to sell your board. I have some pics of you on your board at Feria that I took inlcuding one where you are wiping out. There are a number of them, and they are big so let me find a website to upload them too and I'll tell you where the link is.
WORD!
P.S. we are coming down on Friday and want to hit the beach! Let me know if you can go on Fri!