GIRLS JUST WANNA HAVE FUN

Hiking the beach

and heading for fish tacos on the pier

I crossed paths with a group of

50-70 year old surfer-girl wannabees

in the middle of a photo-op

There were four of them, adorned in suitable swimming attire, and brandishing colorful boogie boards overhead, to go along with their big smiles.  While facing seaward, they all had their heads turned back at the fifth participant, who was about to capture the moment on digital.

I happened to pass in back of the paparazzi moments after the shot was taken, and quickly announced, with arms high overhead and pointing out to the surf,

“Hit it, girls!”,

to which they all broke out into laughter at the suggestion.

I never thought that this was anything more than a ‘poser-moment’.

Little did I know the joke was on me.

Thirty minutes later from the end of the pier, where I was involved in whittling down my taco, I looked toward the area of beach where the girls had posed for posterity, only to be surprised that all were engaged in boogie boarding what surf was available.  I was very impressed.  The water temp was a very cool 64 degrees, and the ladies were braving it without neoprene.  Not only that, they weren’t just taking a ceremonial dip.  From the time I first noticed them, until the time I hiked back down the pier and onto the beach, they had been frolicking for at least thirty minutes.

There were still two of them in the surf as I reached the camera crew to gather more intel.  They were all San Diego county residents, who gather together in Imperial Beach for a week once a year.  I made a few suggestions for increasing their ‘fun-quota’ by surfing earlier in the morning before the wind beats the crap out of the waves, or in the early evening, when the wind tends to die off a bit.  They were all appreciative for the info, but still conceded that they had a great time just the same.

Girls just wanna have fun.