This isn’t a cop-out by any means, at least I’m not profiling myself- which would guarantee a couple thousand hits in a few days!!
A profile on a smaller person is important because surfers as a whole are made up of individuals. And this individual I’m profiling is one that I’m highly involved with and interact with very frequently. He’s my friend Aaron (Rosen), or according to his high school diploma; Aaron Duracell (AA, like the batteries) Rosen.
Aaron is 20, the son of his parents, and brother to his siblings; Moises, Ezra, and Naomi. He’s lived his life in Lakewood, New Jersey and has been hating what it’s slowly been turned in to. If you lived there, you’d understand. No one can drive, but Friday at night most of the town really can’t drive (literally!). Gangs have swept the town; (rip5, B|o0d5, Lat|n K|ng5, M$|3, Cheerleaders, you name it- they’re there. At the end of his block is a gang house, we know because we’ve longboarded past it many-a-times while they had hip-hoppin’ parties; no offers of crunk were ever made.
Though life can seem quite troublesome, even with guns in the house, Aaron finds most solace in one thing- Surfing.
- Aaron on surfing:
I was upset he didn’t mention our trip to California, but if you’d seen what had happened to his foot you would understand… Basically, the temperature of the road blistered his whole sole and the majority of it came off. It was kinda funny, it would have been fully funny if it didn’t ruin our trip and his time.
- Our day:
Iiiiiii pulled up to his houseabout 7 or 8… No, it was definitely 7.
Aaron cheerfully came out, and in shorts for no sane reason.
Forgoing most formalities other than ‘Hey,’ we wanted to get to the beach as soon as possible; just before low tide. So we got to packed, finished up, and were on our way.
The majority of our conversations were filled with:
vibrant debate
and fervor.
(I’m never really sure if he brings up how great the waves were the day I couldn’t go out to aggravate me and make me hate life even more, or if he’s just trying to psyche me up. He’s always meant well since I’ve know him, but I think that’s just a ploy to really rub waves in my face..)
We eventually reached our destination and conditions seemed reasonable
And after checking both sides of the pier,
we knew where we’d be going
- Changing is never fun:
!!!
It’s never amusing, getting in or out of a suit, especially when the temperatures are cold and the wind is blowing. The day before had been a gorgeous day, in the 60’s and with not window. Today, however, was a lot less friendly. It was in the mid forties and wind easterly winds blowing hard enough to cause “shrinkage”.
Since the recent battering on the shore from storms, ocean municipalities like Seaside have been moving sand to try and create dunes to stop future flooding, at the same time, they move the sand that has been pushed up and piled up under the boardwalks back to its rightful place after a few waves toss it around.
Aaron found his space and in a Yogi-like manner pointed out like he was trying to say “Aye, Mikey, I think I see a wave.”
He strapped in and was ready for fall had to offer.
He seemed to be enjoy himself today, catching whatever wave he wanted. The beauty of this time of the year in the surf community is that only the die hards are out, and die hards have respect for other die hards. There’s not much localism or animosity like there is in the summer, so finding waves is never an issue.
- After
The morning never last as long as it should on days when there are decent waves, and today was no exception. A certain young man had school (Aaron) so we had to call it quits, and I had 30 minutes of work to go for (Yeah, 30, honestly would would anyone do that?)
We said our “Goodbye”s and parted ways forever
Which in Mike-time means all of two hours.
- School
I caught up again with Aaron at his college.
He is currently finishing up school at his local community college, Ocean County College. After OCC, Aaron plans to attend TCNJ (where a lot of attractive girls I know go).
when I caught him he was on his way to work out a scholarship proposal with the Phi Beta Kappa, also know as the Honor Society(… Society?). Aaron attend community college because he’d gotten in to the Stars Program, and they would pay his college education as long as he’d stayed in the top percentile of his class, he excelled, and after the semester is over, he’ll be able to join PBK.
The man was on a mission
But he ended up just waiting,
and waiting,
and waiting.
Worst of all? I was stuck waiting!
Rosen’s proposal was rejected due to his “Star” status, and soon after we were finally out of there, and on our separate ways.
How would he cope with the disappointment? Sleeping? Surfing? Yelling at the heavens?
I’m putting my money on all three.
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