“Remember that the main thing is the main thing.”
Kara Swisher
Surfboards and coffee and records and running and bodysurfing fins and t shirts and mugs and books and hot sauce and cards and fins and……. Well you get the idea.
A few months ago I almost bought an expensive espresso machine. Well, first I wrote the company and asked if they’d give me one. After an initially positive conversation my colab request was kicked down the line to another executive whom didn’t see the value in aligning with another surfboard maker. I appreciate that honesty. I still love love love their product. After emailing with a Costa Rican distributor and grasping some exact pricing I digested and controlled myself and held off until next year. Or until we get more coffee drinkers.
A valuable friend of the shop recently lent me a full audio system with a quality turn table and small but interesting record collection. I’m listening to Bonnie Raitt on vinyl while writing this. It’s bliss. Growing up my dad collected vinyl. These are foot steps I’m perfectly comfortable walking in. Many I am not.
I’m weary of hoarding. I respect collecting. Quality art and reverence for culture. Hold me down and make me watch. These songs and this sound and these album covers and slide guitars and trumpets — in the dusty jungle on a warm Wednesday morning the main thing is the main thing is the main thing.
This morning it was board shapes and now it’s audio and prose. The heat keeps coming and the walls close in and the fields expand and the town doesn’t change much.
The heart runs the game. This morning Britt and I watched some waves come in and commented on the rips and the size and the direction. A few short boarders were all over it. Tight barrel rides. Impressive. I had on a new pair of fins and was stoked to be in the water earlier. Can swear that the Mark Cunningham models feel softer. Their amber tones are lush and comfy.
The ocean was strong and with the low tides and swells there was a lot of power and I got pulled around and dumped on pretty good. Lasted awhile, until I didn’t.
That bit of time in the water sets the table for the whole day, doesn’t it. Mechanics and girlfriends and clients and customer service and doubt and fat tires and foam — save me early so I don’t wilt later on.
Bonnie sounds lovely. Later it is Beyoncé. Peaceful shop days dancing between the main things. Small town small business just to make something and leave something behind; don’t hurt nobody, spend some time in nature, some time together, before the big hatchet comes down and we all go home.
