July 2013 – Fish Eye Farm

To Be a Pro

To be a pro surfer-first-you have to get to the WAVE!

The waves here in South Nicaragua are going off. And yes, five surfers and one girl friend, that I began this trip with are not here.

Why? Because they turned around and went home.

Yes, Spirit Airline had mechanical problems with the plane. But we were the first in line to be re-routed through American Airlines.

I spent four hours, becoming perplexed, as I watched everyone else get into cabs with vouchers, and head to the Miami Airport.

After almost all other passengers were gone, the agent approached us and let us know that they could not accommodate seven people together.

What! We could have split up! What do you mean?

One of the surfers was adamant that we could not be separated, as to the sketchiness of the Managua Airport. What!

The driver would have waited an hour or however many hours for us to gather back up in Nicaragua.

Plain and simple. Spirit Airline would have had us in Nicaragua before noon, the next day. I’m sure earlier. I’m being generous with the time.

One surfer, Bradley Dunham, would not give up. He was going, even if he had to do the eighteen hour lay over in Costa Rica. He tried to convince the team to DO IT! He was going to the wave. I was in his corner.

At one point, when the agent realized what had happened, she came back and said she could get five on one plane and two could take the Costa Rican layover. To me that clearly translated to, the guys could go surf, and myself and the girlfriend could catch up later. But she was done. Oh well….

I’m still in Bradley’s corner, as well as the TEAM!

I’m here in my studio, honing my skills.I am learning a lot. Remember, Video 101. It was a well-known fact, before I left here, that I know nothing about video. But I learn everyday. That’s what it’s all about. To be professional, you have to let go of your ego. You come to realize that there are always those that are better and, then those that are not as skilled. When you get that down, you’re on your way. That is being humble.

I’m proud of Bradley’s perseverance, and I want to help him get his two-minute video. A local camera man has been hired to help him achieve that.

And like I said, the waves are going off.

As to the girlfriend, check out the girl on my yesterday’s Secondhand Surfer post. She was coincidentally with five surfers and she was the camera person. A beautiful, girlfriend, camera woman.

Just saying……we pay our nickel and we make our choices! That’s life.

Born to be Wild!

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA I haven’t been on a motor cycle in years. Today, we rented two small bikes and took off. I had so much fun. However, when the moto man showed up, he threw the keys to Bradley with a few words, such as, the gears are five down. Then it was my turn, and he proceeded to tell me about accidents-don’t use the front brake-he’d hate to see me lay the bike down, etc.. He gave me a CRASH course in riding and then he said good-bye. At the end of that talk -I could have run screaming-I’m going to die. But instead, I simply reminded myself that I was Born to be Wild. OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA We scouted the neighborhood.Then, we went to a point break, called Lance’s Left, where I was advised to hire Eddie. So, this young man became my first body-guard. The girl behind him on the rock looked like she needed her body protected more than I did. We both had cameras. Maybe she knows karate!

And all the while Bradley was catching waves.Like a true nature child

I was born

born to be wild

I can fly so high

I’m never gonna die

BORN TO BE WI-I-I-LD

Time Travel – 2

~Meet Boogie ~

This is our Nica Waves surf guide. I have never had the privilege to hire a surf escort. And I consider it my good luck to have met this guy / gentleman. Not only for his local surf knowledge, but he’s just fun to be around.

If you told him, I’m normally a quiet and somewhat introverted person-he would never believe you. I have talked and talked and talked. It’s been a good experience to be around someone who’s lived some of the places that I have and has a similar background.

Boogie lives the surf lifestyle. I know that implies many things to different people, but to me, it means he loves the ocean, the waves, and the people involved in surfing.

He spends his days devoted to Nica Waves surfers. Nice ride to the beach. It’s super deluxe. The air-conditioner works.

Bradley was engaged in a cultural conversation, with the local/Bahamian car park caretaker. This was something I had to get used to, a long time ago, in Costa Rica. But I learned to accept it. And, I know that he is an extreme asset. He helps to keep down any petty thievery on the beach.

As I listened to this man answer Bradley’s questions, I pictured him, in one of those orange work vests, that identify the guards in Costa Rican, packed parking lots. That would be tragic!

I am so impressed with how this area has changed. On one hand it’s changed a lot. There’s more people, but it seems to be just enough. The same goes for accommodations in the area. With the exception of one crazy house, the idea of mansions to the sky, hasn’t happened here. Not yet.

It’s primitive and beautiful.Bradley’s surfing.

And we’ll be home soon.

When I look back on my days, of traveling through Central America, with my coffee pot and boxes of raisin bran, I experience a deep feeling of gratitude, because those days are what led to this.

At my age, you start to see the end. (I don’t say that to be morbid.) But once you cross the 50 year line, your perspective shifts.

I look through the lens and I get a glimpse of the world through Bradley’s eyes.

He can’t see what I see.

He’s not suppose to.

Time Travel – 1

Traveling has its ups and downs. This picture was taken at the airport, while we entertained ourselves, during a delay. It’s eleven thirty and we’ve already been moving since seven thirty, in the morning. At twelve thirty, Spirit Airlines, informed us, that the plane had mechanical failure and we were shuffled off to retrieve our luggage. That was the beginning of a brutal four-hour wait that lead to the end of our trip, as we knew it.

Five of us turned around and headed home; two of us continued on our arduous journey.

The following day around one (by my watch), eleven by theirs (Nicaragua’s), we arrived at the surf camp, Nica Waves.

We have already trekked mile of beaches and waves. I’m chasing Bradley with my camera.

Which I will begin again in less than an hour.

So, time to go.

I’ve gotta have coffee and gather equipment.

The Chaperone

I was wrong. When I posted this morning, I had no idea I would be kicked back in the airport, with time on my hands. These are the young adults that I am traveling with. We caught the train this morning, headed to Orlando and our flight. I liked it. It lacked the usual insanity involved, finding the exact entrance to the airport and returning the rental car.City of New Orleans was playing in my head.The train depot resembled a border crossing.In the airport we admired the Go Pro shop. Now we are all armed- with cameras. And they shoot people too! I’m scared!

I identified myself as the chaperone, when going through TSA. So, I guess that’s what I am ~ Chaperone/Surf Photographer ~ Auntibubba has nothing on Mamacheri.

Our World

I’ve wanted this salad w/crab cake, since the day I wrote the post,Man vs. Nature, about the dune restoration going on at Slider’s Restaurant, on Amelia Island.

Cason was playing. It is her birthday. This woman is quite the performer, as well as surfer. She has a Southern, jazzy repertoire, that blends with the atmosphere. I can easily visualize her, singing her songs at the Grand Ole Opry, or having the lights shining down from above, capturing her stage persona, on the televised show Austin City Limits.The sea oats, planted by George, the owner, are coming up nicely. I’m going to give him the benefit of the doubt, that he did this in the best interest of the dunes. Yes, it was shocking to me to see the machinery in the dunes, after all that I have been taught about the ecology. But new oats have been planted, and in conveying his story to me, he seemed sincere. He has no intention of adding more tables or putting in a pool. Time will tell. In the mean time, I want to enjoy this place that has become such a popular source of entertainment. They certainly have good food and a positive vibe.

Tomorrow, I’m leaving the corner, that has become my world, our world. I’m going to Nicaragua to photograph my friends surfing.

We’ll land in Managua, and then drive to the beach.

As I sat in the middle of this decadence, I allowed myself to enjoy it. Even though, in the back of my mind, the poverty that I will soon encounter, loomed.

*I am locking her down now. The next time I write, I will be in a new neighborhood. I’ll be on someone else’s corner, in their world, our world.

A Trip B4 The Trip

We headed out early. This is our super-surf sled. It has no name, only 350,000 miles on it. It’s rusty and ready for the beach.We stopped for breakfast and Desiree was our server. I just had to get a picture. She has an exotic look about her. I wonder~what is her story?Then we drove south to Matanzas Inlet We spent the day, teaching little girls to surf.It was a perfect day for them to learn. I use to always watch folks grab a board and charge to catch their first wave during a hurricane. I hope people aren’t doing that anymore.We all had a blast.Then we had to tear ourselves away from this beach and head back to our own.

Another great day ~

I’m in a holding pattern. Waiting to go to Nicaragua.

Surf Camp Summer

I recently had the opportunity to work with Chris, Nick Isabella, Bradley Dunham, Skyler DeBerry and Jarrod Kaylor. Secondhand Surf Photography sold packages to the surf camp kids. Chris Igou was the leader and he did a great job. We all put so much energy into those kids. To see kids catching their first wave, skim boarding and body surfing; it was a very rewarding experience.

It wasn’t like this in 1966 ~ I can remember dragging my forty pound Rick Noserider to the beach and getting slam dunked repeatedly. Trying to catch a wave. Pearling. The board would spin and knock me upside my head. But I always had to act like, yeah, “I’m OK”-“I’m OK”. Not that anyone was even looking. There was hardly anyone on the beach back in those days. My skim board was as tall as I was. I would repeatedly kick and ride all the way to the pier, then turn around and come back. Day after day.

This is Bradley.

This is Jarrod surfing on a boogie board. Wow, what a great day that was.

This is Skyler kicking up a little spray on a small wave day.And Waterman~Nick Isabella

Recently Chris posted this to his Facebook Page

July,19,2013
7 days until my first trip to Nicaragua and I couldn’t be more excited and anxious! I have been doing summer surf camp with pipeline surf shop for the past 7 weeks and have one week left. It has been so amazing teaching kids how to surf and to see how much joy they get out of it. That’s it. That is what it’s all about. The moment of joy that comes every so often. The feeling that gives you the highest level of pure and honest joy! People forget often about that feeling when they get older by letting little bad moments pile up which over shadow the good! My goal is to push myself as I get older to never let go of those moments and always live for the ones to come that lighten up your spirit. I am 21 right now and if I had one piece of advice to give it would be to not let those moments of joy pass so easily and do so by taking them in and enjoy every second of it!

Now it’s 3 days away, and with the exception of Nick, we’re all headed to Nicaragua. I too, am so excited. I am going to be able to hone my photography skills and do some videography. I’ve trekked through the beaches of Central America for twenty years and all of my photos have been done with a Polaroid, held together by rubber bands, or my old Kodak that died after fifteen years of hard labor, or my Canon point and shoot that bit the dust after dropping it too many times. I am well on the backside of fifty and feel exactly like Chris described. Surfing captured my heart from the very beginning.

They are going to be throwing so much spray! I can’t wait!

The Knot

My #1 granddaughter got married. This picture is of her and her husband Scott, on the court house steps, following the ceremony. I hope for them many days, months and years of happiness.

The older I get the more I see the cycle of life.

A young couple beginning their life anew, is a confirmation of the older ones who have many years behind them.

Marriage is a tie. It’s a bond.

The secret is to realize that your husband is THE perfect man-for you.

And for your husband to realize the you are THE perfect woman-for him.

Congratulations

~Live Your Dream~

Beautiful Luau

“You don’t stop laughing when you grow old. You grow old when you stop laughing.” George Bernard Shaw~
I’ve had a lot of work to do.~Responsabilities~They’ve given me a headache…~But it’s Friday~~And there’s a Luau~~Celebrating a Birthday~~So we partied~~with friends~~good friends~And it was Beautiful!