ALPH LOVUOLO
THE MORTGAGE GODFATHER
The Surfer And The Child Tenacity is required when the waves of negativity keep knocking you down
BY RALPH LOVUOLO, SR. | CONTRIBUTING WRITER, NATIONAL MORTGAGE PROFESSIONAL
T
he waves were rushing to shore as if they were being chased by Poseidon. So many, so fast. So many more than usual by a factor of 10. One after another after another, they were coming from every angle imaginable. I hadn’t even dumped my belongings down, but the unusual churning of the water’s intensity was so strong it immediately caught my attention. The restrictions to be at the beach had been lifted for only a few days and this was my first chance at digging my feet into the sand I love. It had been a very long time since I’d seen the ocean this active. Maybe it was so happy to see us all it was celebrating by showing us just what it could do. But this was really unusual, a bit more like a puppy that has just been given a treat, it was jumping up and down and sideways and throwing itself all over the place. It was also obvious that the tide had just turned.
The great ocean that lay before me was about to produce its great wave of the midday as it started to grow tall and show how its power was a serious threat to a peninsula that was only about 20 feet above the water’s highest level. Walking a short distance from the ramp, I plopped myself down near the rear of the growing, but socially distanced, crowd as far away from the breaking waves as possible. If I was not going in the water, there was no need to take space away from playing children and their parents.
HAPPY CHAIR Facing the water, my beach chair opened as if it too was glad to be there. I usually have a difficult time opening that contraption, but that day, it opened just as it was designed to do. That simple activity alone would have been enough to remember what a glorious day it was. Even though I had taken my spot a good distance from the families that had gathered near the breakers, I was still only about 200 feet from the waters’ edge. As I sat, I positioned my canvas bag about six inches from the right armrest, so that if my phone made the slightest sound, I could quickly silence it by answering. Before I was able to crack open my book, my eyes were drawn to a surfer. He was about 300 yards
out and having a very tough time standing up on his board. It seemed that as soon as he stood, another wave attacked him from a different angle. He’d fall, flailing about in the churning surf until he could collect himself, find his board, climb back on the board to paddle out again. And then the ocean did him in again, and then again. But he didn’t quit and every few minutes, he’d succeed to stay on the board, even though it was for a mere 20 seconds or so. It was obvious that a 20-second ride pleased him because when he wiped-out he quickly made way again out to the approximate spot where he had begun his venture. He was doing all he could to try to beat the god of the sea, but only occasionally, was he able to succeed.
INTROSPECTIVE I had missed this so. I love the ocean beach. Nothing can replace it. So many inland lakes and such try to match the magic, but I’ve never found one that could. In one fell swoop, it calms me, enervates me, inspires me, gratifies me and helps me to do the one thing that nothing else I do can replicate: Think. I’m much more introspective at the beach and in that state, I’ve always been able to enjoy my own company even more. After reading for about an hour, and needing a break, I put my book in my canvas bag and took notice again of another surfer. This guy had replaced the previous one and
