I was born January 8, 1960 with blond hair, blue eyes and thick tomboy blood. My single digit birthdays and elementary school days were spent in Mountain View California where swimming, running, climbing, jumping, and riding anything with wheels, filled my latch-key days. My older brother (16 months my senior) was the person I had to keep up with. He had balls of steel. I had none between my legs, so, I had to make some in my head. I called my balls, adrenalin.
In 1971 my mother packed us up and moved our little trio of a family to Bellflower California, (my father left when I was two and became nothing more then a found picture in my Grandmother's attic). The city of Bellflower knocks on the fences of Whittier, Downey and Compton. I was starting middle school and didn't know a soul. For some reason my days were spent fighting with the girls who played softball. Softball being my favorite sport, (next to football, thanks to my mother. GO RAIDERS!) From the age of seven I was out in left field and hitting home runs. I was probably pissed when they wouldn't let me on the school team. I became a recluse and started snuffing glue for entertainment. By the time I left 7th grade I was a full-blowen drug user. Then I turned 12.
In 1972 I started babysitting for a colleague who worked with my mother. The couple lived in Seal Beach. The drive between Bellflower and Seal Beach was too long at 2am so, I usually spent the night. The guy had a surfboard and one day as he drove me home we chatted about surfing.
"You can use my board anytime you want." He said.
"Really!?!" The thought of surfing excited me.
"Sure, I rarely use it anymore."
The very next Saturday my bother took a bus down Bellflower Blvd. to Cal State U, another bus south on PCH, and another west on Main St. into the heart of Seal Beach. He did this with both of our bicycles in tow. I met him at Ocean Ave. and Main St. with the guy's surfboard. We rode our bikes, (my bother carrying the board under his arms) to the mouth of the San Gabriel River and we tried to surf. Neither one of us had wetsuits so time in the water was short, but we were hooked, and it didn't take long before we were doing this almost every weekend. Soon, after surfing, we omitted the bus and rode our bikes all the way back to Bellflower worn out and sun fried. My drug use at this time was on a regular bases. I had quit sniffing glue because I didn't like the headaches, but I smoked weed all the time. The truth was, I was a skinny tomboy blond with a brother who played football for Bellflower High School, both the local blacks and hispanics were willing to give, all I had to do was ask.
The Bellflower Days
My first experience with surfing was that it took a long time to figure out how to paddle the board, and an even longer time learning how to catch a wave, but I was persistent. I began practicing snapping up while watching TV. I'd lay on my belly on the floor, and when I got hungry, I'd snap up to my feet. Also, while my brother was out riding the one borrowed board we had, I'd watch the surfers closely. I'd notice where the surfer was when they started paddling, the angle of the board when they snapped up, and how they drew their line. I also paid attention to how they got through the shore-break waves and into the line up. I knew nothing about Duck Diving!
At one point I stood up completely on a small shore-break close-out wave only to immediately fall. The board hit me in the head. I rode my bike home with blood running down my face and thoughts of giving the sport up, but summer was right around the corner and my mother was looking for a new house. She had decided to move us to Huntington Beach.
By the time I entered 8th grade we were living in a small housing tract with the cross-roads being Atlanta Ave. and Bushard St. in the city of Huntington beach. Again, I found myself not knowing anyone.
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