October Sunshine

I get excited every time I see the water. I don’t know which body of water it is, but each time it’s all I can do to not think about the beach. A proper beach, like Torrey Pines, Del Mar, or La Jolla Shores. Somewhere you can go surfing and then lie on your towel and let the sun dry your swimsuit.

Yes, I’m suffering a bit from the lack of sun. On Thursday I sat in the grass in George Square for five minutes and let the sun do its magic. It was only weak October sunshine, and only for five minutes, but it helped. It woke me up, reminded me that it’s still warm elsewhere, and that the sun does indeed occasionally break through the clouds. I just have to pay attention when it does.

It’s been cloudy and overcast since then. But there’s no rain forecasted tomorrow. Maybe the sun will come out? Then again, maybe I’ll appreciate it if it doesn’t—I’m playing football (soccer) again tomorrow afternoon, and I’m so out of shape I’ll probably end up sweaty and overheated despite the air’s coolness.

Life in the Summer

I’ve had kind of a slew of run-ins with creepy-crawlies recently. Ticks and jellyfish, mostly. And there was a spider in my bedroom yesterday, but I caught him in a jar and threw him outside.

The jellyfish, though, that’s the most exciting story, so I’ll share that one. :) I was surfing with my dad on Monday at La Jolla Shores, breaking in my brand-new wetsuit. It’s a spring suit, so it’s short-sleeved. (Winter suits, like the one my dad has, come down to your wrists and ankles.) We’d been out there for a long time already, almost two hours, when I was paddling back out on my board and managed to slam my hand all the way through a glob of slimy, globby purple stuff. I thought it was seaweed. It was gross, so I yanked my hand back out. After a second, though, my hand and wrist started to tingle, then sting and hurt. A lot—which is when I realized that, duh, seaweed’s not purple, that’s probably a jellyfish.

So I rolled off my board, got out of the water as fast as I could, yelled for my dad to watch my board, and ran off to the lifeguard station. No, they didn’t pee on it. They sprayed rubbing alcohol to disinfect it, and then told me to get back in the water because the salt would help with the swelling.

So I sat on my board in the shallows, bent in half so I could dip my arm in the water. A dinky little wave came in and I flailed and rolled off the side, then reoriented myself. Another dinky little wave came in and I fell off the back.

Yeah, I’m not so good at that sitting-on-the-board thing yet. What can I say? I’m still a beginner.

Juuuulyyy

I finished my story and got it in on time. :) It’s been about two weeks since the deadline came and went, but I’m still quite pleased with myself. I went to the gym in the morning, did a final read-through and edit, and then submitted it—all before I headed off to work. It was a good day (except for the work part).

Yesterday, I went down to La Jolla Shores and surfed for the first time in a year. Couldn’t find anyone to go with me, so I just went all by myself. I’m pretty terrible, but there were probably three different instances where I managed to stand up (crouch) before the wave ended. The first time I managed it, all I could think was, “Ahhh, so this is why surfers keep at it…”

And this morning, after I got back from the gym, my mom and I got all my housing for next year sorted out and paid off! I’m so glad that’s taken care of—one less thing to worry about, you know? I’ll be living in the largest of the res halls at U of Edinburgh, and will probably be surrounded by first years. It wasn’t my first choice—or second or third, really—but I’ve only heard one bad thing about it (that it’s noisy, since it’s next to a huge street full of bars and clubs). Everyone I’ve talked to who lived there last year had a really fantastic time, so I’m not real worried at all. Ear plugs are such a small investment. ;)