Recovery 101

It has long been said by many people [and much to the sorrow of my mother and my wife] that I am accident prone... or as my wife says... ‘An accident waiting to happen.’

So... I was body surfing with my friend Horace about... oh, three weeks ago... [you cannot ride a regular surfboard on our beach during set hours due to tourist season, therefore... instead of competing for a wave line-up with the hard of the hard-core surfers near the pier, we chose to catch a wave on a body board...] the day was fantastic... the waves were huge... mainly due to a storm front, which was just off the Baja and had pushed the swells into the shore... The day was too irresistible...

We had been out for well over an hour... just past the point by the breaker [see pic... just to the far right of the rocks is where we line up]... and although the weather was spectacular, we were pretty chilly since neither of us was wearing a wetsuit [I wear one in the wintertime but I don’t want to punk-out in the dead of summer...]... So... needless to say, we were having a lot of fun...

Eventually it was close to time to head back in... so, I’m waiting on ‘the big one’ to take me home... and it rolled in... I could see it pushing up and so I began to paddle... paddle... paddle... I -felt- like I was in the right spot... the wave began to lift me and then carry me... everything felt as it should...and then, the wave rose high and fast... and now I am perched right on top of the crest of the wave, looking down about five feet... -straight down- at the curl and then over I go... head first... I plunge and then get rolled right off of my face... the force of the wave has pushed my heels over my back, and my spine gets bent in the wrong direction. Immediate pain. I let go of the board and just let the wave roll me under... all the while holding my breath and feeling like my back just snapped.. I won’t lie... I was concerned that I had just received a serious injury...

Eventually the wave rolled past and I popped up... took a breath and opened my eyes. Wow... my back was screaming at me in pain... but I could feel my toes and move my legs... so nothing was broken... I let the tide wash me up to the beach and I just laid there for what seemed like another hour... my friend Horace found me and he just sat there... laughing, of course because he had just watched me get destroyed by a monster wave.

I have been back out on the waves one time since then... and that day was only about a half hour. My back still is not fully recovered from the injury... but with time and patience it will be.

In the meantime... I’m spending my time reading and getting ready to take on another round of classes.