Serfin!

Sunday morning I finally got out in the water after just over a months hiatus due to the insanely busy season at work. Head-high glassy peaks up and down the coast, and me with no paddling strength in me after being high and dry for so long. The water was warm(ish) and at this point I could have just run and ducked my head in the water and felt good.

Sitting outside I focus on breathing, cleansing all the accumulated stress, and worries that stack up, one on top of the other the longer I'm out of the water. We're coming into the slow season at work, will I still be able to provide for my family? Levi's first birthday is coming up, how is he doing, am I raising him in a way that will leave him ready to face the world on his own terms... birthday party in less than a month, lots of people coming and I haven't finished the back yard yet, need to get those roots out, clean the weeds, fix the deck, paint his room... The onslaught of thoughts keeps coming, then its gone again with the next wave.

Its a little frustrating being so sporadic in my surfing, I'm one of those people that has to get out regularly to keep a skill level up and every time I go a month out of the water it feels like I'm starting over. Luckily with my advanced years I've come to know two things. One is that when you lose physical strength or skill, you still have your mind, and being in the right state, being patient when you paddle out and choosing the right waves, you can make up for a lot of weak paddling muscles. The second thing is remembering why I surf. I don't surf to be the next Kelly Slater, shoot, I'm in my 30's now (sweet, I can say that). I surf because I enjoy it, and it has 100% positive effects on me, physically, mentally, emotionally, there's few things that benefit so many areas of ones life. Being in the water, bobbing up and down with the swells, I barely even notice the hundred or so of my closest friends int he water, as is always the case when the waves are good in Southern California. My mind is cleared, I feel good, refreshed, ready to go another month if neccessary, but I certainly hope not that long.

Thank you Sweetheart, for encouraging me to go surf.

He's Moving Now!

Levi has always been like his Dad, happy to just hang out, no real need to push on anything, thus he rolls everywhere at 11 months, no crawling, that is until yesterday...



How soon is it going to be until I can't keep up with him?

Big Bear Trip

Here are a few pictures of the family trip to Big bear last week. We found, through my mother-in-law's remembering of an old childhood spot her family went to past Big Bear, one of the most beautiful spots I've been in a while. There's a waterfall, just a 1-hour drive away, where we can hike up a canyon with a waterfall flowing down through pools, streams, and even a very small cave. With sunlight filtering down through a leafy canopy, I felt like a kid again climbing up boulders and wading through the pools scattered up the canyons slopes.

Levi was as usual wide-eyed in amazement. The water was a bit cold for his taste, but he loves riding on my shoulders so he got some good hiking in!

My camera battery is working on an occasional basis, so all of the pictures we got were with my cell-phone camera, so the quality isn't that great.

Hiking

We’re on a grassy bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean. The wind howls around us. Try as she might, my wife Laura just can’t seem to get her sweatshirt tied around the backpack carrier in a way that will comfort Levi. He screams and pants as if the wind makes it hard for his 7-month-old lungs to get their fill of air. He’s never experienced this kind of wind before and he does not like it. We’re one and a half miles into a 7-mile hike along the cliffs of Los Osos State Park in central California coast. It’s going to turn into a 3 mile round trip for us, but I’m stoked anyways – Levi went on his first hike today...

Read the rest at The Outdoor Parent.

Here are some more pictures from our Morro Bay trip.

1st Fathers Day

Yesterday, being my very first Fathers day, was my day to pick out itinerary. Naturally, with my newly healed shoulder (more on that later) we went down to San O' for some surfin! It was crossed up NW/SW swell with light onshore winds to make it nice and choppy, but it fell great to be in the water. I went out once a little over a week ago, which was my first time since I hurt my shoulder almost 3 months ago! Anyone who surfs knows that after that long out of the water, any waves are great waves.




Since my shoulder still feels tender I'm using the longboard just while I get back into the swing of things. I feel awkward having been out of the water for so long, but am not having much a a problem. Maybe next time I'll take the fish just so I don't make the longboard a crutch and forget how to ride shorter boards!

Laura and Levi hung out on the beach and played. I'm extremely proud of Levi's appetite for sand, (see picture below)

Hope all you dads had a great Fathers Day as well. Never forget that you are 100% vital to the well-being of your family, and take your responsibility seriously.

Anniversary

Myself and my Beautiful Wife that is! Yesterday was our 4th wedding anniversary. Four down, 76 to go! I made her promise me 80 years. This being a parenthood sorta blog, I think its important to point out the importance of your spouse being the priority. My father always told me "The best thing a father can do for his children is to love their mother." I intend to do that through thick and thin 'til the day I die.

I Love you Laura.

Foto Friday

Dad taking not one, not two, not three, but FOUR kids out......AWESOME.

Kook Stand-up paddler snaking not one, not two, not three, but FOUR kids surfing on one wave?.....NOT AWESOME.

From here, originally seen on SurfySurfy

Where's the Foto?

Sorry no photo today. I surprised Laura for her birthday with a weekend trip to Morro Bay. There will be lots of photos when we get back!

Open Eyes-Surfing after Kids

From The Outdoor Parent

Jurassic Five blasts out of my alarm at 6:00 in the morning. I’m out of bed before the second note, rushing to turn the alarm off before it wakes up Laura and Levi sleeping next to me. If Levi wakes up, it’s going to take a lot longer to get things together. First things first — start the coffee. Then, a quick yoga session in a feeble attempt to loosen shoulders tightened up by a week of hunching over a keyboard.

Read the rest here...

The Outdoor Parent

Today I am happy to announce the launch on a new website that I have the pleasure to be involved in in a small way. The Outdoor Parent was the idea of Fitz Cahall of the Dirtbag Diaries, where those who've been reading the Dirtbag Dad Diaries know allowed me to shamelessly use and alter the name for this site.

The Outdoor Parent is in our own words...

The Outdoor Parent is a collection of surfers, climbers and skiers who have embarked the greatest adventure -- parenthood -- and lived to tell about it. Stories, perspective and reflections on parenting, children and the outdoor lifestyle.

I'm am going to be a contributing writer on the site, as well as Steve Bohrer, and other fathers and mothers of like mind who are doing what we can to raise our children with a love of, and respect for, the natural world and all life has to offer outside of our "modern" bubbles.

Organic Gardening

Cool Little video found on Cyrus Suttons Vimeo page.


UGROW ORGANICS from Cyrus Sutton on Vimeo.

I visited the web site at ugroworganics.com and its still a work in progress. I'm going to be checking back periodically to see how it progresses.

I've been wanting to re-do the old garden in our backyard, maybe this summer. I have fond memories of the gardens my family had while I was young. We had corn, beets, turnips, cucumbers (Jesse & Danny's Cucumber patch, our equivalence of an allowance) and much more. Not only could it be a source of healthy pesticide-free foods, it can save money and be a fun family project to work on. Some interesting statistics from various sources...

• 2.5 million gallons of pesticides are used on our food every year
• Typical American diets feature 60-70 toxic chemicals daily
• One of the major causes of degradation of the food supply is poor soil. Poor soil is the result of modern farming techniques.

I'd heard in the past that due to farming techniques the nutrients from say, one apple 100 years ago are equal to about 10 apples eaten now. I couldn't find the source to back that up, but I can see it being the case. Either way, making your own backyard, patio, or windowsill garden is win-win. You either get healthier, save money, have fun, or any combination of the three!

Edit: Here's some interesting follow-up found on The Cleanest Line

KEEP OUT OF REACH OF CHILDREN - Industry reps fear organic garden

The industry in question is the agroindustrial genetically manipulated monocrop chemicalification comglomerate. It's a mouthful, which is why folks in this business like to refer to themselves as representatives of "conventional agriculture," companies like Monsanto, Dow AgroSciences and DuPont Crop Protection. Let's leave aside for a moment the fact that our friends in the agroindustrial complex have been hard at work redefining "conventional agriculture" to mean "requiring the extensive use of synthetically engineered petroleum-based fertilizers to biologically barren soils with the aim of promoting growth of genetically manipulated, non-replicating seed-like products, upon which vast quantities of industrially designed petroleum-derived biocides must be applied."

Read the rest here...

Sense of Smell

In light of how busy I've been at work and working on another project to be announced soon, I've been neglecting (sorry) this blog a bit. Some of you may have read this post on my pre-fatherhood blog, but I thought it was worthy content for DDD. Enjoy!

My senior year in high school I had a job at Holiday Inn working in the banquet service. I'd be there from right after school until sometimes three to four in the morning, watching drunk people do the macarena at weddings, corporate Christmas parties etc. I remember when I first started I was excited at the prospect of free food (loved food, still do!) from the surprisingly good kitchen. I commented on it my first day, and I've never forgotten what my supervisor said. Apparently, when you've worked in food service for a while, you actually get to the point where just the smell will satisfy you. Of course you still have to eat, but the additional temptation to eat more than needed just goes away after a short time. I found this to be true, and even there I didn't last long at that job, that always stuck with me for some reason.


Being a new father, moving, and working a sales job in the current economy, time to get out in the water has been more than scarce for the last several months. I was on the road to work early one morning this last week and decided to take the scenic route up PCH from Newport to Huntington Beach, for the sole purpose of seeing if the smell of the ocean would help me through this long dry spell. I have to preface this with the fact that I didn't spend much time actually looking at the surf, not so much because I was driving, but that when I'm out of the water for a long period of time I just get frustrated seeing waves I can't ride.

Back to the experiment. I drove, windows down, several miles up, PCH, breathing in the fresh ocean air. For a moment I thought it would actually help, and really in a way it did. Part of the meditative benefit of surfing I believe is the the smell and sense off the ocean, and I got that. The only problem is that it still made me want more. Some surfers want more than just their local break, which has driven surf travel and exploration for decades. Part of being a "surfer" was the search for the next great wave, almost a constant limbo of being satisfied yet still yearning for more, knowing there was something more out there to experience. That's how I felt only in a sad, almost pathetic lesser degree. I am actually at the point where just being able to see the ocean, sense it and breathe in its aroma, makes me feel like I've reached that much more of a connection. I'm far from content with being out of the water for so long, but that's the thing about surfing, no other past-time (I don't' like to call it a sport) is so holistic in its experience. Maybe I'll write on that later.

Photo by Ryan Tatar

Walkabout

Not exactly a hike, but just getting out for a walk around the neighborhood with Levi feels good, like I'm doing something right to get him outside. Just throw him in the carrier and go. He seems to like it as no matter how cold it is he is quiet and just soaks everything around him up the entire time. Ehow.com has this list for the question "How to Get Kids Outside?"...

Step1

Set up a swing set or play equipment for younger children.

Step2

Put up a basketball goal, volleyball net or skate ramp for older children. Kids will be more likely to go outside if they can engage in an activity they enjoy.

Step3

Take family bicycle rides or walks together. Encourage outdoor activities by setting a good example.

Step4

Plan a scavenger hunt for your children and their friends. Send them around the neighborhood looking for various outdoor things.

Step5

Sign your kids up for a camp where they can explore the outdoors and participate in outside activities. This introduction may foster an appreciation for being outside.

Step6

Limit the amount of time they are allowed to spend watching television or playing video games. Without these distractions, they will want to get outside to play.

I've decided to simplify it for people like me with short attention spans. Here's my list...

Step1. Turn off the TV and go outside.

That's it. Not, send the kids outside, go outside yourself. I'm going to be making a conscious effort to habitually be outside. Working in the yard, playing walking anything, just being a family that gets out of the house and having children outside from an early age will make a world of difference 5, 10, and 20 years from now.

Surfin'

This last Thursday was a surf day for the family. My brother and his family moved to San Diego so we went that direction. Stopped off in North SD and were pleasantly surprised as the reports were not very optimistic. Its been a long time for me so the small, semi-clean conditions were good for a paddle out. I did end up re-aggravating my shoulder that I sprained several years ago. Goes to show I need to get it in the water more to keep loose. Needless to say it felt great to be in the water, and beyond that, there's something even more satisfying now that my family is here with me.

Before Laura and I had Levi around, I almost invariably surfed alone. I'd go at dawn before work, or I'd spend the working day at San Onofre on my days off, leaving around noon to meet Laura at her work for lunch. Now, I don't get out so much, though I would love to get out early in the morning. Now that we live close enough to the beach I can get up for a dawn patrol, then come home for a morning with the family before work, yet I haven't taken advantage of that yet. Work is taking up to much of my time lately, its hard to justify any free time spent away form my family. 60+ hour work weeks can be harmful to a young family so I try to commit every second available to spending time with the family. Hopefully in the near future work will allow me fewer hours and I'll be able to get out in the water more.

Now, there is a trade-off, those serious surfers, climbers, skiers, bikers etc, know that participating in our chosen lifestyle (I don't call them "sports", and they're not mere hobbies for most) when we don't get that psychological, emotional, and physical re-fuel of getting out there regularly, our mental state tends to suffer. Using myself for example, when I'm out in the water on a regular basis, I'm more even-tempered, I feel better physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Its our personal recharge, a way to clear out all the mental garbage we accumulate in the modern world we live in.

I've discovered though, that as I focus on appreciating the incredible family I've been blessed with, my being in the water, or going snowboarding (that used to be my main passion for years) doesn't take precedence as my family trumps everything. Now, its important to have time to yourself, and believe me, if I had time, I'd be in the water ever single day there were waves! The point is is that in this spot I'm in I'm not willing to to sacrifice my family time for anything. I have a beautiful wife and awesome son that I don't spend nearly enough time with, and whatever "sacrifice" I'm making by not being in the water as much is of little account in the bigger picture. Not only that, but the times I do get out to the beach with my family are absolutely more rewarding than just being by myself. There's nothing like kicking out of a wave and looking at the beach to see your wife and baby boy watching and waving.

Bedtime Stories for Wanderers

If stories are the currency of travel, then writer Ryan Nickum is a very wealthy man. By the time he turned 30, Nickum's passport was chock full of the brightly colored patchwork of entry and exit stamps from dozens of distant countries. He was consumed by a desire to travel and haunted by the inability to sit still. The gaps in his resume developed into oceans between jobs. Cynicism grew. The overwhelming urge to quit the job and pack a bag sprang up every six months like a song that would not leave his ears. With his career stalling and idealism flat lining, Nickum looked into his past to search for the seed of the travel affliction. There was only one person to blame -- his father....

Listen to the Short at the Dirtbag Diaries.

Settling Down

As you can see if you've checked this blog regularly, I haven't been doing much posting lately. Between work and family its been tough to get anything in edgewise. The downside of commissioned sales is that when business is slower, you put in more hours for less reward. At least the spending time with family part more time means more reward, I just wish I had more time there.

Luckily for me, the surf hasn't been much to get happy about anyways. The issue I run into is I'm one of those people who needs to surf regularly to keep my edge. I don't forget how to surf, but paddling is a whole other story! To keep a little bit of an edge I started doing yoga in the mornings a couple years ago. Doing it regularly makes a big difference when I do get out in the water. It doesn't help the cardio side at all, but as far as how fast my muscles wear out, and what they feel like afterwards it makes a world of difference.

Hopefully when things settle down a little bit I'll be able to get out in the water more. having a new baby shakes things up and I think they're just now really starting to settle back down to normal.

Milestone!

Yes, my son (highly advanced as he is) has rolled over for the first time! Pardon the image quality, it's a cell-phone camera. And for an additional disclaimer, the cheering is not me, I have a very masculine baritone voice(wishful thinking), the cheering is my beautiful wife.

Childs Play

Happiness is having a little boy that loves to play. Now that he can hold his huge noggin up by himself, Levi gets more fun every day. He's playing with his mom here, he laughs like a little champ. Bit by bit he's growing up! Days 'til first surf, 973......

Fatherhood

One thing I'm realizing about fatherhood, and desiring to raise your children with a love for the outdoors. The issue that we run into after the fact is not just raising them outside, but getting outside ourselves.

Between family and baby and mortgages and car payments, its really hard to get time to get out to the water or up to the mountains. What we once took for granted now feels like to slipping away. I got a comment from a new father that he had an 18 week-old baby boy and was totally stoked, but hadn't been in the water in weeks and was about to go insane! I know exactly how you feel. Surfing is different than many other outdoor activities in that its more of a spiritual and emotional pursuit than other sports for most participants so being high and dry for long periods of time (days for some people, weeks for others) really has a negative effect on our psyche.

On the flip side. We're dads now. Being a dad is the second most important job I'll ever have on this earth, #1 being a husband. Family comes first in everything. I've read in my any surf magazines, articles, etc speaking on the effect and power of surfing in someones life, and read something along the lines of "marriages have failed because of the powerful pull of the ocean..." or some such nonsense. When I sit back and look at the big picture, one day a week in the water when the waves aren't even good, with a happy, close, and loving family is a lot more important than catching it every time the swell comes up.

Now that contentment with my new lot is setting in, my biggest concern really is what I'm going to be able to do when my son is old enough to join me. Will I even be in good enough paddling shape to show him how to duck dive a 10ft wave? Will he be able to look up to me and see something he wants to be athletically? I was watching On Surfari a few episodes back and Shayne (the father) was surfing a longboard while holding Banyan, his son. Am I going to be confident enough in my abilities to do that with my boy? I was a while ago, not so much now.

When I sit back and look at the big picture, its easy to know what the right decision and attitude is for the moment, but there's always that nagging in the back of your head when you look at the surf report and know its going to be good, yet know you're not going to be in the water for it. I'm sure its the same for many other activities as well. When its a lifestyle, not a hobby, its difficult to let it go at all, but that's what fatherhood brings you, a dramatic shift in priorities, that are more than worth any sacrifice.

Foto Friday 1/23/09

Photo- Bruce Kirkby