• Living,  Shore,  Surf

    Surfing Around Matagorda Beach

    For anyone else who tires of being a spectator, here’s something surfy from Chris’s point of view surfing around Matagorda Beach. These were all taken using Chris’s GoPro on a beautiful, clean fall day on the beach with some beautiful waves. Standing on the beach taking pictures is fun for a while, but soon enough you have to test the waters. For me, the point of view of the video really underscores the amount of effort it takes to get in there and the singleminded purpose it takes. Waves are messy (just like life). It’s literally an uphill battle to get out there – all for a few seconds sliding…

  • Sand Footprints
    Living,  Shore

    Beach Reset

    Going to the beach for a day is a great way to press the reset button on your routine. a beach reset, if you will. With distance and space for reflection, there is room for a shift in perception. When you return, you can see your world with new eyes and new understanding, as your old assumptions fall away. And if you’re ready, there may be change. Usually it takes a long time for an old behavior to die, but when it does we don’t feel a loss because the way has already been paved for a new one. We feel it as a relief. I can’t wait. I like to take…

  • stand up paddleboard
    Living,  Photography,  Shore,  Surf

    Stand Up and Paddleboard

    Chris and I finally broke away from work life to go down to Matagorda together with the new stand up paddleboard. Since he just started a new job in Port La Vaca, he is down there almost every day. But for me, I am so busy with my job, yoga teacher training, and renovating the house, that it has been a while. The drive never bothers us. It’s only about an hour an a half to the beach, and Chris and I like taking the time to talk about this and that – local histories, photography, side-adventures. The water is almost warm enough to go in without a wetsuit. We…

  • Living,  Shore,  Surf

    Where Are Texas Waves?

    Do people even surf in Texas? Where are Texas Waves? I hear this all the time. Or jokes about how there are no waves or surf in the Gulf. It’s true, most days the Gulf has waves that are much weaker than the big ocean waves in Hawaii. The Gulf’s waves are always weakened by the Caribbean islands. But Texas has a lot of surfers. Chris says it has more days with surfable waves than many of the popular surf spots on the East coast because of the Gulf current patterns. Texas surf is burly, with short powerful waves that can be difficult to paddle out through. But they are waves!…