Girls who charge Bowls.  Photo by Neal Miyake

Good morning 3:50am.
Ala Moana shoulder high and good.
Diamond Head head high and bumpy.
Trade winds at 15mph.
Sunny and warm.
Going to the sea.
Have a wonderful day!

Surfed Bowls early this morning and caught a few good waves.  Today was the biggest day of the swell which was not expected, but nobody was complaining.  Good to see my nephew Joshua out ripping and getting barreled.   Round 2 went for a quick boat trip to the East side.  It was so beautiful!

And of course, nobody was out.  You can choose any wave you want and ride it as long as you want.  Then repeat and repeat.  

There was this big wood with a sign floating in and out of the lineup.  If you hit this, your surfboard will lose.  And your body too.  Abunai!

But when you’re with experienced surfers, they see everything in the ocean and know where everything is.  If you surf and hit this, it’s pretty much your own fault.  

Tokura-san is very experienced in surfing secret spots.  He’s been doing this for 59 years.  Nice late takeoff!  

Deco-san always wins with the most waves ridden in a session.  Surfing and smiling the whole way…

I just met a guy named Kevin who I’ve never met before. He asked me “hey, did you go to Wilson Elementary School?” I said “yes, but not really because I use to run away from school every morning after my Mom dropped me off.”  Yes, I was a 6 year old traumatized kid that hated school so after my Mom would drop me off, I would run home and hide outside in the bushes. Then my Grandpa use to always come and look for me. I have absolutely no memory of even walking into the classroom. Anyway, Kevin said he remembers me. A few days later, he sent me this class photo of our 1st grade.

Do you know which one is me?  Gosh, there were a lot of cute girls in my class.  I should have gone to school more often.  Haha.  

No wonder I was traumatized.  I get the chills looking at this.  Look at my haircut my Mom use to always give me before picture taking day.  I was called “rice bowl haircut” because of that.  I was also called “Frankenstein” because of my jaw underbite.  I was also the smallest kid in my grade so I got teased all the time.  Kids were mean back then.  I’m just grateful for surviving that dark time in my life because I remember going to sleep every night not wanting to wake up the next morning.  So looking back at myself at age 6 makes me so grateful to be alive.  And maybe that’s why I enjoy my life so much more now.  I’m living my life now as a big kid that should have enjoyed it back then.  It’s never too late…