Saturday 30 June 2012

A winter walk

It's a wild winter's day in Kommetjie. Mountainous seas are rolling in from the South Atlantic, thundering across the bay as they curl over on themselves and explode into billions of drops of purest white surf. Sea birds sweep along the faces of the swells, held aloft by the updraught as the mass of water surges towards the shore, displacing all before it. A pod of orcas has been in the area this week, moving fast through the water, dolphin-like. What a privilege.

Two surfer girls came out of the water while I was walking along the rocks. I asked them why they surf, and more specifically how they feel when surfing a wave. They said it was because when they ride a wave they become one with the board and are separated from all physical sensation - they become a feeling of pure exhilaration, unaware of their surroundings, and after the ride is over, they can't remember it, only the feeling. I knew somehow that this would be the answer.

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