So picture this...I've been losing my mind while posted up on the couch for 10 days, recovering from the knee surgery, popping percocets, drinking NyQuil, YouTubing surf vids, and planning my eventual escape. A couple days ago, I added some gym time into the mix. Yesterday, after getting all yoked up at the gym, I'm fucking starving and focused on building the greatest turkey, ham, & avocado pita pockets ever. As I'm cruising down the bread isle and making my way towards the meat counter I'm face to face with none other than Nat Young...World Champ, Legend, THE ANIMAL(not to be confused with the young freckle face ginger kid from Santa Cruz). Nat Young goddammit. NAT FUCKING YOUNG. I know he lives here part-time and I've seen him around before. But I'm always a bit stoked to see him cruisin around away from trade shows and work related bullshit. A few years back, when I still lived in Santa Barbara and was here on vacation, I spent the day shredding a killer pow day with a couple friends, and some big tall Australia dude. We shooshed around the mountain all morning and it took until mid-day before I realized that big tall Australia dude I've been riding with was Nat. I'm not sure why I wasn't star struck back then. But yesterday, I had some sort of man-crush...or maybe more of an adventure-crush. My mind was spinning just imagining where all his travels have taken him over the years. That dude lived more incredibley stoney shit in any random 24 hour period during the 70's. My favorite surf era. It must've been so rad to be the first person to discover an Uluwatu or Petacalco then surf the shit out of it for weeks with just you and your bros. And weed. And psycadelics. I think I've found my spots to hunker down for about 6 weeks in spring and I'm getting stoked about heading out on an extended surf adventure. And who better to feed that fire than Nat. As I passed him I gave him my best cool-guy headnod of acknowledgement for his years of ground breaking surf/life/mind shennanigans from the good old days. Then I went home and stuffed my face and took a nap.
Poetic.
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