Curl Girl

I live on the West side of San Francisco. The Pacific Ocean is about 3 miles straight down the street. In many coast cities or communities, living near the water is fancy schmancy. Not in SF. This part of town is foggy and cold a lot of the time. The water is freezing and very few people swim in the Ocean. There are hearty souls that swim in the SF Bay every day, and my dad was their king. The bay has tough tides but doesn't have the crazy undertow and the crashing surf that the ocean has. Ocean Beach (clever name, I know) is generally empty save for a few dogwalkers and other scattered individuals.

But there are surfers. These folk have their wetsuits to protect them (somewhat) from the cold and their bravado to protect them from the rocks, undertow and occasional great white shark. (Ok, hardly ever with the sharks.)

Maggie has become something of a connoisseur of the waves and the surfing conditions. The bus picks Maggie up about 8:20 or so and then heads west to get another student. The driver then takes the Great Highway, which runs right along the coast, to get to the school. He listens to KPIG on the radio which has a feature "Girl in the Curl" to give the surf report. The bus driver has the kids confirm whether or not her report of the conditions is correct.

I didn't know any of this until the other day when the bus was a little late. the driver was still loading Maggie when the kids started yelling It's the Girl in the Curl! Maggie started twisting her neck to see the kids in the bus and was laughing her head off.

It's good to know she's getting an education ON THE WAY to school. That's a bonus.

Tomorrow is Valentine's Day, of course. But that's Saturday, so all the Valentine stuff had to go to school today. Maggie was dressed for the part and had her valentines all ready for all her pals and teachers. She was excited and Happy.

If the waves are good, this will be a perfect day! Gnarly dude!

Maggie says Happy Valentine's Day to everyone!!