The Life

I'm not sure why, but from time to time I still like to check a website that features daily photos of Shichirigahama, a very well-known and heavily populated surf spot in Japan, about 5 or 6 miles from where we lived during my second tour. On decent days, it's dangerously crowded, parking is murder (plan on waiting an hour to get a parking spot and paying ¥2-3,000 on top of it), and many of the surfers are very aggressive in the water. But nonetheless, there are some beautiful, mellow days like this with long lines of gentle rolling swells that perhaps make me miss surfing there. This pic sums it up. Small waves but perfect conditions for old guys with long boards (Hey! I'm headed in that direction!). If pictures like this captivate or inspire you, check out a beautiful photo book entitled "PreWar Surfing Photographs" by Don James. James took surfing pictures like these of his buddies with a simple SRL camera mounted in a wooden box on the front of his board way back in the 30s and early 40s, a good decade before the surfing scene exploded in California. Interesting side note - James went on to become a dentist!