Surf’s Always Up Despite Waves
By BETSY S. FRANZ

My date and I had just finished a quiet, candlelight dinner for two. Afterwards, we stood on the boardwalk overlooking a beautiful full moon glistening off the silvery waves.

We stood, wrapped in each other’s arms, listening to the crashing of the surf for several minutes in total silence. I peered into his eyes as he looked out over the ocean, and I saw a look of total joy and excitement, awe and passion in his eyes. I snuggled closer into his arms as he said, “It doesn’t get any better than this.”

“Mmm,” I answered.

Still holding me close, he said, “The waves, I mean. I’ve never seen them this good since I’ve lived in Florida. I can’t wait until morning, so I can go surfing again.”

I chuckled to myself as he continued on about tides and currents and offshore winds. And at that moment, I realized what I’ve always found so attractive about surfers. It’s not their golden tans or their sun-streaked hair. It’s not their well-toned bodies from the rigors of their dedication to the sport. It is the fact that they have something that they are just so passionate about.

If you’ve lived in Florida long, most of you probably know at least one avid surfer. I mean the kind that will postpone their plans and obligations like school, work or dates with the special people in their life if the surf is good. I also mean the kind that chart the hurricanes, along with fear of what damage will befall their homes, but with the childlike anticipation of the great waves that the storms may bring.

That night, for the first time in my life, I was almost jealous of that feeling. My jealousy was not caused by the fact that my gentleman friend felt that passion for the waves instead of me. What I was jealous of was the fact that I currently felt I had nothing in my life that I was that passionate about.

As he continued to expound on the virtues of long boards versus short boards, the different types of waves, his fear of sharks, I realized that I had somewhere along the line allowed my own enthusiasm to wane. I tried to remember the last time I was filled with that feeling of joy and excitement and passion.

My first experience wilderness camping was filled with awe and excitement. The wonders and the slight trepidation of experiencing moose, deer, elk, and other wild animals in their native habitat. The adventure of cooking over a campfire, bathing in a cold mountain stream or heating water on a campfire to wash my hair. The pure wonder observing and eagle build his nest, or seeing a baby bear scamper up a mountain or finding out that there are still such things as entire herds of horses that are born and live and thrive in the wild…majestically and powerfully and beautifully.

The joy of sailing can excite the passions in me. Finding that exact balance of making the wind your ally instead of your rival as you raise the main and tighten the jib and feel the boat tip precariously toward the water as you surge forward with the grace of a bird in flight. Sleeping on a sailboat under the stars with the gentle rocking of the water, the moist salty smell of the sea breeze, and the incredible view of what seems like millions more stars than have ever been in the sky before.

What I realized that night is that unlike the surfers who are at the mercy of the weather and the tides to experience their passion, my passions are around me every day…as close as a look at a starry sky, as close as shared laughter with a family member, as close as a good friend who will not only share his last bite of key lime pie but who will hold me under the stars and share his enthusiasm about his passions. What I realized is that surfers have to get that excited about good waves because they are so rare… so few and far between. But mostly what I realized is how lucky I am that when it comes to the sea of things in my life that I am really passionate about, the surf is always up!!!

This article was previously published in Florida Today newspaper in 1995. Article is copyrighted by the Author.

"Betsy Franz is a freelance writer, founder of Project Backyard Brevard (Project Backyard Brevard )and author of The Wildlife Habitat Journal: Restoring and Exploring Wildlife Habitat in Your Own Backyard, c2005. The Wildlife Habitat Journal"