Yoga of choice!
This year I discovered a yoga CD that revolutionized my workouts. This mega-pushup style of yoga helped me eliminate weightlifting which consequently allowed me to workout entirely at home. Working out at home is fantastic because one can wear anything one wants. I was already in the habit of exercising five days a week, with Kest, I could cut an hour off of each workout because I had no driving time to deal with. That amounted to five hours a week I could spend doing other things...like surf!
I started 2001 in pretty good health. I'd been working out since 1972. I didn't smoked cigarettes, and I hadn't smoked weed or taken recreational drugs since 1981 (which was why I was an outcast at Hot Wax). This year however, I would discover the injury to my neck that I did snowboarding in 1997 was taking it's toll.
...and the aftermath :(
C5 and C6 had Degenerative disc endplate and uncovertebral joint disease with asymmetrically prominent osteophytes toward the right resulting in right foraminal stenosis. There was also an encroachment upon the anterior aspect of the cord and displacement of it, but without myelomalacic changes. C6 and C7 had had the same thing but to the left, plus uncovertebral joint hypertrophy. "You have a 70 year old neck." my doctor told me. That might explaine the headaches.
I had noticed my eyesight wavering too. All the recent hurricanes had jiggled the lights over the softball fields and I was having a difficult time focusing on the ball while it was in the air during night games. At one point a high hit ball went threw my right hand pointer and flip-off fingers tearing them apart at the base. By the time I chased the ball down and threw it to the third baseman blood was splattered all over me. "Gross!" yelled my teammate holding up the bloody softball. I had to get four stitches.
It was determined that part of my declining eyesight was caused by the swelling in my neck and not because I was 41. Of course I was wrong and this year I would get my dreaded pair of I'm-getting-older glasses along with a plate & six screws put in my broken wrist. My orthopedic prescribed an endless supply of Ultrams for the escalating neck pain, henceforth, it was time to decide whether or not I was going to join the pain pill popping crowd. God said I'd better not go there and I was listening, but Mark made things difficult with all his internet pills. "They're for you," he told me while handing me less then half of the pills in the package. I'm not going to say it wasn't tempting but I was in school and didn't want to screw up my grades with drugs. I decided Yoga was the plan for pain relief and only took two pills in one day when necessary. Mark took the rest.
The Island of Todos Santos, Mexico
This year I went to California again. It would be the last time for awhile. Over the years my brother had been working for Newport Harbor Shipyard and knew lots of rich active people with big fun boats. He had a friend who had a boat docked in Ensenada Mexico and we took it to the island of Todos Santos. Because my brother's friend knew the lighthouse keeper we were able to sleep on the island over night. The waves at Chickens were fun and we surfed until dusk the first day. The following morning I woke up to Mike Parsons and Shane Dorian doing tow-ins at Killers. It made for a great show with my coffee.
While on the small island we pooped in an outhouse with the most spectacular view of mainland Mexico and breaking waves below the island's cliffs. I was on my period (which was always a drag while traveling) and ended up catching a parasite from no running water and me having to plug up. I know that's gross but it's a real curse for us women who travel to obscure places. Once while I was in Fiji I started my period while sightseeing. The only place to pee and plug up was on a 8 inch diameter rusty pipe coming up from the ground inside of a small peek-o-boo-between-the-wooden-slats outhouse. There was no water there too, and the pipe had no seat to sit on. It was a real long and nasty thigh burner.
Killers
At the end of the summer, before I went back to school, Mark and I went to Cabo San Lucas. I adored Monuments, but Zippers was even better. My Huntington-ness had to come out at Zippers so I could catch a wave. It was a rush in the 5 to 6 ft. perfect rights to take on the locals. Once I showed them that I could ride one as well as the next guy, I was in and getting lots of tubes. After a couple of days my brother met Mark and I in Cabo to go fishing. My brother knew someone with a boat there too like in Ensenada. We had great success thirty miles out into the open seas...well, I did anyway :)
Fishing on the boat Survivor.
The weekend before my classes were to start my sister-in-law's brother came to North Carolina from Denmark for a visit. We packed up the rental car they had and headed for a place called Carolina Sky Sports in Louisburg, NC to go skydiving. I didn't hesitate when the door of the perfectly good airplane opened up and I was told to jump out. It was a tandem jump and the guy I was with rolled me over directly after we left the plane. I saw the large flying machine so closely it was like I could have touched its belly. Then we rolled again and I saw the clouds and the ground. I love heights so this was a real spectacular moment in my life. I knew I'd have to do this again.
Jumping out of an airplane is a fantastic rush!!!
When my second year of collage started I got my nose pierced to celebrate the moment. Mark didn't like it but I thought it was cool. By now Mark and I were not talking much which made all the trips we went on a little uncomfortable even though we were trying to work things out. I loved Mark but we were in two completely different worlds. We shared the same space but not the same definition of the word Spiritual. This year I took a poetry class and started reading my poems to another man who understood my work. It's no shocker that this would start to carve a real wide crevice between Mark and I.
During Christmas break Mark, Sarah, Shaun and I went to Colorado to snowboard. We boarded Vail and Breckenridge. Conditions were very good but we were having family problems that darkened the mood. We were all pretty good boarders however, and the snow there is always terrific, so, we all tried to keep conversations light and have a good time.
Upon our return we sold the Salty Hammocks beach condo and bought a new one at Snowshoe. Intrawest had just bought the place and was rebuilding much of it turning Snowshoe into a 4 season resort. We used our brand new Highland House condo a lot which was nice. It came with housekeeping!
Once during the off season we all went for a long weekend. Mark went golfing while I drove the cart. The courses up there is magnifacent to see. I found over 60 balls. We took the kids fly fishing too. The place really is peaceful all year around.
Mark's office at Hot Wax
This was the year Mark had become addicted to ebay and was spending enormous amounts of money on autograph rock & roll paraphernalia. By the start of 2002 Mark had so many autographs (I don't even know if all of them were real) that they wall papered the house and his office at Hot Wax (he was also spending lots of $$$ having these signatures custom framed). He was turning into a huge music fan and we were attending lots of concerts which was cool, but I'd notice his mood change due to the drugs he'd take behind my back before the music started. I felt betrayed and alone when he did this, and, he was doing this a lot by now. The truth was, at this point in our lives I pretty much felt I was nothing more than Mark's arm candy, or, a pretty little Tomboy Surfer doll.
The ebay decor
I have to say though, I liked the music room we had in the house. People would come over all the time and jam. Mark had state of the art recording equipment and numerous expensive guitars. Sarah had a drum set which every one liked to pop a squat and get in touch with their inner Ringo with. Hell, we even had a box of percussion instruments that would give a first grade class room a delightful shiver. Personally, I love the sound of a good bass guitar...its very sensual! I had a soft gold 2000 Fender Precision Bass (it matched my G35). It was built for the Blues but in the right hands it cranked out Rockabilly, Punk, SKA, Jazz, and Classic Rock with sexy sexy ease. All this, and a Tommy Pinball machine, made our house the party house indeed.
To date Sarah still hold the leading score on the Tommy
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