Yellow Aura

We made it to the T-Ball field right on time!

It's 7 a.m. and I'm about to sneak out of the house for a quick surf, when I hear a voice behind me.

"Mom, can we go surf the wharf?" asks Vinny.

"Sure, but we don't have a lot of time," I say. "Gio has a T-Ball game at 11," I say.

The wharf isn't really a legitimate surf spot. It's not even a beginner's spot. It's where newbies go to learn to surf.

But it's the perfect kids' surf spot. The waves are small. And by small, I mean tiny. Minuscule even.

What I won't do for my kids. A lot actually, but groveling in meager surf conditions isn't one of them.

The small, pitiful waves aren't so bad on the right board, a 6'10" FunBoard, a wide surfboard with a rounded full nose. I actually had "fUn."

While the waves at the Wharf are slow, the commentary from the people there, tends to be off the charts. Commentary from the regular Wharf surfers, of, "it gets big here once a week."

The Wharf hardly ever gets head high more than once a year, if that. And head high is not big, by most surfers' standards.

To the Meth Head, hanging over the side of the Wharf, who likes to pull (figuratively speaking) surfers' leashes saying, "Woah! Look out for that shark!"

To the Used-To-Be-A-Surfer saying, "there's not much out there, today."

"Well, it's perfect for a 9-year-old," I say, trying not to sound annoyed at the thought I might be missing "good" waves somewhere else.

Vinny popped into the Ocean and was riding waves before I knew it.

"Wow!" says Used-To-Be-A-Surfer. "He's actually surfing!"

"Yeah, that's why I'm here," I say.

But today, my favorite commentary came from a fisherman. In fact, on top of watching Vinny surf, what he said, made my day.

"The waves are never this good here," says FisherMan.

"Oh yeah," I say, hoping I don't sound like a smart alleck because I definitely don't think it's good.

"Well, it sure is fun watching you ride them," says FisherMan.

FisherMan deflated my surf snobbery bubble in a single sentence. It felt good knowing my joy*** was rubbing off on someone else.

Yes, even small waves can be powerful.

***the life purpose of people with yellow auras is to spread joy.