Yesterday in the late afternoon I walked down to the highway by the beach and headed North to the site of the event. Sure enough--there was a huge tent on the beach and lots of young people streaming home before sunset on bikes, on foot, on skateboards. There was also a lot of automobile traffic headed south from Land's End--maybe checking out the site.
Today, I wanted to see for myself up close what was happening. At 2:00 I had an urgency to leave my house, so I dropped what I was doing, picked up my cell phone, a few dollars, my cap, and sunglasses and headed out the door towards to the beach. At first I walked on the promenade path, but when I reached Noriega Street, I decided to cross the highway and walk on the beach. I paused a moment on the sanddune to look at the sparkling ocean view and then I decided to venture down the steep sandy hill, stepping very carefully so my shoes wouldn't fill with sand. When I reached the bottom, I went right to the edge of the water where the incoming tide makes the ground harder and easier to walk on. I walked slowly, not knowing what to expect when my destination was reached. It was such a beautiful day to just watch the seagulls soaring in the sky and the little plovers walking briskly and then stopping to eat a morsel they found. I stopped to pick up a shell and examined it for perfection, since it's difficult to find a whole shell due to the churning water breaking them. People with dogs passed me by going south and other people walked briskly North, in the direction I was headed.
Finally I saw the tent up ahead and a throng of people standing close to the water's edge. Other people were sitting in chairs further away. There were also a few huge cameras set up in the sand pointed out towards the surf. I stopped and asked people questions--some kind of silly, but I was looking for information. One young man explained that there were two buoys and a boat out in the ocean and between them is where the surfers were coming in. I looked in that direction and I saw a huge wave and a little figure on a surf board emerging from under the crest. He righted himself, disappeared as the wave came crashing down, and then appeared again upright and came gliding into shore. I heard the crowd give a resounding ovation. The man next to me said, "I think that was 'Slater.' I think he just won his 11th World Championship." I remember reading something in the newspaper, but had no idea I would actually see the event.
Next a young woman with a little girl playing in the sand talked to me. She said that they were going to give "Slater" an award after the current heats. So I walked up to the tent area where people were gathering in front of a stage. I was close enough to see a man in an orange shirt emerge from the curtain amid cheers from the crowd. A man with a microphone talked to the gathering and gave Kelly Slater a huge trophy, which he accepted graciously. He spoke a few words but seemed a bit tongue tied. Later on the evening news he was able to talk a little more to a newscaster. I tried to get a photo with my new I-phone, but unfortunately I was too far away for the camera. What was amazing is that I was able to see him myself with my "new" eyes, after my cataract surgery last week.
I was so happy that on this awesomely beautiful, warm tropical-like autumn day I was able to be present at this historic event. Today made up for the long, dismal summer of depressing fog.
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