Big Wednesday

Prompt: “Think of a place that has the mystery or beauty of a poem to you.”

Big Wednesday

The local newspaper called it “Big Wednesday,” a day when the highest surf in memory thundered onto the beaches of Southern California. Fueled by a series of Pacific storms thousands of miles away, these 18 to 20 foot waves drew masses of observers entranced by their size and ferocity during a two-week period last December.

On Wednesday a few days before Christmas, I was on holiday break from work and, ironically, suffering from a nasty cold. Driving home from the doctor that morning, I took the coast route and saw first-hand the surf and the people. I stopped at home long enough to grab my camera and a fresh box of tissues and headed off to the beach. I knew it was unwise to risk pneumonia for the sake of a few pictures, but I felt compelled to go to the water.

I parked and starting walking along the bike path, snapping shots, until the beach narrowed and ended at a rocky jetty. A yellow police tape barred my progress. I had overheard from some locals back up the path that a woman had been knocked off the jetty rocks the day before and had suffered a broken leg. I stopped for a moment and then began looking for a way to get around the tape. At that moment, I chanced to look behind me towards the parking lot and saw a motorcycle cop watching me. With the slightest shake of his head, he communicated a silent “Don’t.” With an embarrassed smile, I nodded to him and turned back, stopping just long enough to catch on camera a breaker coming over the jetty rocks and spraying the bike path with foam.

At that point, whatever enchantment that had enveloped me broke as well, and I realized the risk I was in. I was feverish and shaking and I was standing only a few yards from waves that could break bones. I quickly packed away my camera and hurried back to my car.

Why do some of us do such foolish things? When nature displays herself, many times we run toward her and not away. I told myself I was an artist seeking the capture of that “perfect moment in time.” But, if truth be told, I think deep down I was exercising that time-honored human flaw of hubris. I was shaking a fist at nature that day. Fortunately, she took no notice.


Lori © April 11, 2006 Photos taken at Manhattan Beach and El Porto Beach, California, December 2005.