Climate Change

I thought I was ready to move. Somewhere south. Somewhere warm. I thought that somewhere else might solve my problems... and then I surfed in the snow. I know, it sounds strange. You'd think that surfing in the snow would produce the opposite effect - sending me south even sooner. But it did just the opposite. It reaffirmed my forgotten feelings for the Northwest - Allow me to explain.


We were forced to surf on Saturday, as Karissa had a family function on Sunday she was unable to avoid. We were, after reading the reports, a little skeptical about what we'd find. Strong onshore winds, showers likely, a chance of snow. Sizable swells, though. Fuck it. How bad could it be...

We left early. The sun still somewhere over the Atlantic. It was cold on our side, even colder across the water. Lowland fog rolled in from the west. Clear skies around the corner. It was pretty small. Ankle biters at best. But we suited up. The tide was on it's way in and we anticipated a push.

It started to snow. Small flakes turned big. Sideways wind and then rain. The swells quickly increased in size. I had two that were taller than the piling. Fast down the face. Big bottom turn. Karissa paddled out sans leash, but decided that was a bad idea and headed back to the beach.

The next few sets were serious. Long rides from left to right. The wind picked up, though. Waves turned to white caps. And then something happened. The clouds cleared out and for half an hour we surfed under an early morning sun. The water changed color. Dark became light. It was almost warm.

By the time I came ashore, some three hours after I had first paddled out, it was snowing again. We sat in the car and watched, Karissa and I, desperately trying to thaw our frozen digits. The swell was a bit smaller. Waist high. A quarter-inch of snow had accumulated on top of my board. And then sun again.

The Pacific Northwest. Where else can you experience climate change like that?!