no time like the present

early morning.
the tropics.


"I don't understand anyone that doesn't want to live in the tropics" Michelle said yesterday as we trotted along pieces of dried volcano and reef on our way to the secret "Shell's Beach" around the peninsula from the retreat…
Our sarongs blew in the warm breeze and sweat gingerly kissed the sides of our faces... but the silky warm water was just beneath our toes and ready to kiss us back.
A black crab with beady red eyes looked at us and then sideways walked away, disappearing beneath a piece of coral.
The dogs came along for the adventure... one brown and his mother, black and brown... beautiful, loyal, loving hounds that close their eyes and seem to sigh when touched.

This morning i sat on the chaise lounge with both dogs and sipped strong black coffee. I was facing the rising sun that crept up behind this line of coconut trees that seems to constantly dance in steam, or mist, or maybe smoke from a garbage fire… i can't be sure.

I cracked open Shantaram - a huge book that I've been looking at and threatening to read for years and years. This morning seemed like the right time. No time like the present, right?

Two days ago Michelle took out bags of fabric to show me pants she wanted to make… remakes of the long-crotch ones I bought in India and we both live in out here… They are perfect to keep mosquitos from feasting on your skin and also breathe since they are baggy and light.

"Sooo… when?" I asked her as we sat cross legged on the flat little stage/plateau in the middle of the restaurant. Last year when Shayne, Jessica, Pix and I spent a night up here, we gave one of the guests stitches in his foot while he lay across this same stage/plateau thing.
Thankfully the guests we have right now are absolute masters of their craft and surf so perfectly and effortlessly, there is rarely a scratch on their young bodies. They are like super-heros.

Here is the story on one of the guys - shot by one of the other guys. Majorly talented beings hanging around here.

This afternoon (my first on the islands), the boys had all gone out surfing (again) - on waves that they'd seen moments before all exclaimed identically and in unison "HOLY SHIT! THAT'S THE BEST WAVE I'VE EVER SEEN IN MY LIFE" - immediately followed by the sounds of wax hurriedly scraping on surfboards, lunches being tossed away, and feet scrambling to go get back in the water.

Michelle and I looked at each other from over the heap of batik fabric and pins stuck in stuffed red tomatoes - an international sewing fashion we decided since pin cushions decidedly always look like tomatoes in every single country we've gone to.
"How 'bout now!?" and off we went on a mathematical head scratcher of a pattern for these amazing pants.
We cut mini versions and drew diagrams with paper and on cloth using a chalk tailor tool.
It still doesn't make sense but somehow it didn't matter.
We were doing it.

Andrew, the sweetest (in my opinion) of the guys came over and told us with always bright, enthusiastic eyes that he loves sewing and often makes stuff too.
That morning he landed on his back directly on top of his fins - coming down from some ridiculous air trick that I would under any other circumstance tell you is impossible.
At 20 years old, he is sponsored by Volcom and Vans and makes a living playing in the ocean.
"I am so lucky." he tells us constantly with genuine disbelief and gratitude for the gift... the present... this reality that has brought all of us here.

I love this humble recognition.
Last night, while giving another massage to Jack - an Australian young pro, he told me he felt lucky not only to be able to surf for a living, but to do something that brings him to the tropics… and not just that… but to Surfing Village in particular.

All the guys keep saying how they think this is the best place ever and I kind of have to agree.
The vibe here is unreal.
So relaxed and real. All love. All inviting...
There are randoms that have just tagged along with Mario and Michelle from somewhere in the world... People that just latch on to this open armed couple and next thing you know they are living here, doing bits and pieces - fixing surfboards, cooking, cleaning, building... It feels like this place is the most non-discriminating environment I have ever been in.

We all sat together on logs of driftwood around the beach bonfire two nights ago underneath palm frawns and a gloriously full moon.
It was low tide and under the moonlight it looked like the glassy water was wrapped in cling film plastic wrap - and the chunks of reef were dropped on top.

This morning as i marinated on the first five pages of Shantaram that I had just devoured and now needed to digest… the same water was at high tide and rippling... it looked like the cling film had been slightly released and buckled under the sunrise light that was pouring through the palm trees and steam/mist/fog…

A fisherman in a triangle hat rowed by into the bay and moments later pulled up on the shore with a giant fish the size of himself… a smile that read he was hoping to sell it to us.

The boys started waking up and traipsing into the restaurant as the sun came higher and higher towards some black clouds that hung over the palms, but posed no threat as they were moving in the opposite direction from us and the pumping swell.

All the boys seem tired and cooked by the hot sun - but as soon as they look out at the waves when a set rolls through, its like every part of them that is tired or weary completely dissolves into the wooden planks and hammocks of the restaurant and you can feel the "game on" energy topple back into the room.

Aint no time like the present…

The boys are waxing up, zincing their noses and getting ready to charge this gift from the universe… this storm that someone weathered weeks ago in Africa - that is here and being transformed into joy for some and art for others… pure entertainment for me.

If there is anything I have learned in the last few months it is to DO IT.

A few weeks ago I was in Crescent Head and I was shocked by how fast the guys would get up and go when we had an idea… I was expecting to sit around and talk about it for a little longer…
We dubbed ourselves "team get shit done"
and that energy is still happening over here.

I thought about a song i wanted to write and so i wrote it yesterday. I have no idea what its about - but its beautiful and my buddy Andrew is gonna help me finish it by the bonfire one night.

The present is SO good.
It would be a crime not to seize it & love it…
There really is no time like it.

p.s. photos take a long time to load with the satellite internet… so once i have a good signal i will load more.
<3