days that you remember

Two nights ago I got in late. Very very late.
After riding the bus 2 hours to the north shore, and then grabbing a ride in the back of a mud-covered pick-up truck, I arrived at a surf party in Haleiwa.
An Australian, two German girls, a photographer, and myself.. in the middle of nowhere; all of us with the biggest grins on our sunburned faces.
We hopped the fence and made our way up the wet driveway to an enormous house. Greeted by music, a hot-tub full of girls wearing not much of anything, and the sounds of surfer craziness - I felt immediately at home.
Sometimes you find yourself in unfamiliar places, with people you don't know, and you have no idea how or why you got there... but it still feels so good! So much alive and un-rehersed, and raw.
I met a surfer named Randy.
I met a surfer named Mike.
I met a surfer girl named Erika.
I played guitar with a guy named Bryan.
I got surf tips from a guy with a Mohawk.
I drank Patron with a drummer named Alex.
I had an incredible, intimate conversation with a blond girl - I don't know her name.
I watched the fog on the mountains with 2 girls in the hot-tub.
I laughed with everyone.

I have no idea how I got back to Waikiki.

The next morning, I couldn't move. Everything about me ached. I lay in my bed and drank water. I wasn't sleepy, but I couldn't move - the world was spinning.
As I lay there, I started thinking.. how long has it been since I was forced to just lay somewhere and think? I thought about the night before, I thought about my headache, and I thought about the breeze that was cooling me through my window. My entire day was taken up with "recovering" - and it was exactly what I needed.
I started thinking about the last few weeks, the last few months - days that had past me by, and the days that I remembered.

Days that are worth remembering.. have reasons to be remembered. They are the days that we filled with power, smiles, challenges, tiredness, joy, excitement... these are the days that were wild and un-ordinary. These are days which we were aware.
Aware... aware of what was happening while it was happening. What a great place to be!

Be aware, and do things that make you stronger.




(Andrew Tipton)