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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Wow! I think I may have had too much
fun. I've had this big grin stuck on my face since Friday's
surfing class, and as Mark Sanders speculated, it may be a permanent
feature. And, as if the surfing wasn't enough, everything else I
experienced at the Symposium just bonded the grin deeper into my
psyche. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>So now I'm confused. I started the week
out grumpy, stressed out, and weary of work. This was a perspective
that I had grown accustomed to. I knew my roll, and although my cynicism
may have been a little harsh at times, I was functional.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>But now I'm not only happy, I think I may even
be exuberant! When I go to work tomorrow, people will not know how to
relate to me and I won't know how to relate to them. They will likely get
suspicious when I don't scowl at them. Being upbeat and optimistic may
cause them to shy away from me. Hmmm, on second though, I'm
seeing an advantage to this; maybe I will have an opportunity to get caught
up on my work if people try to avoid me for a while.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>It all started with Friday's surfing
class taught by two English men, Shawn Morley and Nigel
Foster. Right from the beginning I was a bit apprehensive about this
class because my classmates included Mike Bode and Mark Sanders. Mike and
Mark are well known as excellent photographers and great story
tellers. I knew that if I screwed up they would be able to document
every detail to such an extent that it would be useless to try to come
up any lame excuses.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Then, they put me in this silly little boat that
looked as if a shark had nipped of the front and back ends. And as I tried
to paddle what was left of this boat into the surf, I found that it
wanted to go every direction but straight ahead. With every stroke the
boat tried to spin around and head back to shore. Then it dawned on me,
having had both it's ends bitten off by shark attacks, the poor little boat was
afraid to go back into the surf; it just wanted to go someplace safe and
hide.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I decided I needed to act like a "Boat
Whisperer". I told the little boat that it need not worry about being
gobbled up by a shark because it was being paddled by an Old Fart. To
date, no Old Fart has ever been eaten by a shark because our
scent tells the sharks that not only do we taste terrible, we are
so putrid that a shark would get poisoned if it so much as tasted an
Old Fart. The pep talk convinced the little boat to cooperate with me and
let me paddle it into the surf.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Before I knew it, I was in the surf with a
squirrely little boat that wanted to spin in circles. I soon
found that this boat could run from the surf going frontward,
sideways, or backwards. There were times when the boat went in the
direction that I wanted it to go. And there were times when the boat went
into auto pilot and took me where it wanted to go. And just as I was
beginning to appreciate the little surf boat's sense of humor, Dumpy showed up
and decided to make things interesting. I found myself being hoisted high
into the air on a big green wave. The wave was so steep that it
scared my little boat which tried to duck and cover. The nose of the
little boat dove under water, and as I was being pitch-poled, the
noise coming out of my mouth was the sound of Scrat meeting
Dumpy, "WHAAAAAAA......"</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Getting pummeled by Dumpy is definitely an E-Ticket
ride. Not only do you get bounded and spun all over the place, but Dumpy
tries to rob you while he is bouncing you around like a basketball in a Harlem
Globe Trotters game. I found Dumpy trying to pull my helmet and
goggles off my head. Then he tried to pull me out of my boat so that he
could pick my pocket. Fortunately the little boat did not want to let go
of me because it needed me for protection against sharks. And
with the little boat on my side, I discovered that my combat roll still
worked.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>That's when the fun really began with the little
boat. I caught some nice rides and surprised myself when I
found I could actually maneuver the boat in a limited sort of way.
I've still got a long way to go before I can boast of any surfing proficiency,
but I was off to a great start and having the time of my life. All
told, I had pulled off about 8 combat rolls while dueling with
Dumpy. I got knocked over so many times that I was actually starting
to get relaxed while being under water. Fortunately my roll and my timing
worked so that I did not have to go swimming.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>At the end of the day, I wasn't the only one
with a case of happy face. Mike and Mark were also sporting big
grins. It was a lot of fun to be out there in the surf with those guys and
seeing them catching some great rides. It was also an eye opener to watch
Nigel Foster surfing; he was so graceful cutting back and forth on the front of
a wave that he made it look easy.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>My thanks to Nigel Foster and Shawn Morley for
coaching us in the surfing class. And I can not express enough
appreciation for Jen Kleck, Jake Stachovak, and the Aqua Adventures crew for
organizing and hosting such a fantastic Symposium. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>One special moment comes to mind, I was
standing next Jen at the bonfire with a light rain falling. I
commented that the Symposium brought so many wonderful people
together that I was torn between spending time with people that I
didn't get to see very often vs. meeting new people. Jen summed it up
when she said the Symposium is like a big family reunion.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>All the best,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Patrick Martin</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2> </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
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