"It got to the point where I almost didn’t recognize my own reflection in the bathroom mirror..."
Surf guru Sam George and The Inertia is the happiest pairing since green eggs and ham. The silver hair’d kahuna having a place to share his all-important insights. The David Lynch-esque surf website positively glowing from the power of unfettered wisdom. It is a beautiful thing and, so, you can understand the mortification readers had today when they learned that George had once gone 14 days without surfing.
“As a younger man, I once went 14 days without surfing,” the master began. Having just returned home from a trip to Puerto Rico, where I enjoyed a fine run of swell, glorious mid-winter weather and a full dose of spicy Caribbean culture, I found myself decidedly uninterested in suiting up for a session in three-foot, chilly Upper Trestles crumblers.
George went on to recount how the days passed, his board unwaxed even though he was the editor of a surf magazine and had ocean views from his home, him not recognizing his reflection in the mirror anymore. Then, on the 14th night of not surfing, 11:30 pm to be exact, he wondered if he was even a surfer anymore. The thought troubled him so much that pulled on his wetsuit and peddled on his bike to Uppers wherein he surfed under a pale moonlight.
Readers finally able to breathe again but a plurality was left unsettled as to how a man as exceptional, talented, skilled… as perfect as Sam George could go 14 days without surfing.
14 days.
Even though he had everything.
The most enviable job in the world, an oceanfront home, a face impossibly handsome, style, hair, one earring.
If surfing’s Grand Poobah could go 14 days without surfing what does that mean for the muck like you, like me?
Us dirty plebes?
A haunting notion.
Dare I ask how long you’ve gone without surfing?
We’ll be here for each other.