never rush.

there's nothing like watching the ocean to remind you of how insignificant you are, tracy once said. getting up early [for me] at nine, to the blue skies of a nice and sunny los angeles day, peeking through my vertical blinds, i brush my teeth in the living room while gazing west at the thin and hazy marine layer which still hugs the coast at this hour. hoping it will burn off by the time i hit the water, i drive to the beach to meet stan for a day of surf. climbing atop a wooden pillar in the parking lot for both a better view of the sea and of stan's car which would arrive shortly, i watch the turquoise waves barrel and slam themselves onto the sand, taking out any surfers who may have unfortunatelly wiped out in the unusually large surf. reminding myself of weather reports which pointed to pacific storms and el niño warming as the cuprit for one of the best surf seasons, i fix my gaze on the sea and wonder if i'll have any trouble paddling out today.

a small red car approaches. i know it isn't stan's. in the driver's seat a tiny asian woman, sporting a pair of dark brown sunglasses, cranes her neck to get a good look at the surf. she is dressed professionally in a fit pin-stripped or houndstooth business suit, with a patterned scarf tied around her neck in a small flourish. her hair is done in a little bob cut, fit for a middle-aged aunt still stuck in the seventies, and she looks as if she just stepped out of a business meeting or presentation. as i watch her car pass, i imagine her briefcase sitting on the passengers seat - not a black sterile rectangular samsonite briefcase, but rather one of those soft brown leather document briefcases with either a gold or silver clasp in the front, stuffed with papers and reports in clear-cover three-brad folders. topping it all off, on the roof of her little red car, a surfboard lays securely strapped. i smile a little to myself and think about how something so simple as riding a plank down a wall of water brings together some of the most interesting people of all ages and races. hoping that when i am old, i too will be as young in body and mind as the woman who passed earlier, i meet up with stan to ride some choppy waves and lay out in the sun. it's a rough life. reveling in being young and having a future of possibilities, he agrees that we should take advantage of our time now. no rush, i say. never rush.

those whom the gods love grow young.
: wilde.