break of dawn

Another year passes. Another year coming up.

I have a good feeling about 2010.

Happy New Year.

contrasts

Hemispheres and seasons. Apparently each have flip sides.

It is a little surreal to switch from one to the other in a short space of time.

Each makes you appreciate the other.

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Walking up one lane and sliding down another.

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The same sky above us all.

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Modes of transport may vary.

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If a change is as good as a holiday, then a change and a holiday cannot go wrong.

spin cycle

The washing machine is eating itself.

It cries for help. Each load comes out wearing flecks of fan-belt.

Personally I think it has given up on life. It came out, had a look, stuck around for a little while but has now decided it just doesn’t fancy it.

It makes plaintive cries in a language of its own. It used to sound like it was singing the backing to ‘The Lion Sleeps Tonight‘. Now it emits a guttural moan and a rubbery-dandruff declaration of dissatisfaction.

Can something so functional have a crisis of confidence?  “Is this it? Is this what I am here for? Is there nothing else? Look at me. Save me. I’m dying.”

But I am not sure whether our washing machine is suffering from existential nihilism so much as making a grand statement about the state of our world.

It might be positioning itself as the ultimate example of our consumerism, of our selfishness and greed. Yet another device designed to make human life easier.

It can then force the question of whether it is worth an extra shake of each piece of clothing to procure a replacement. Another clone from the endless armies of identical brethren. A drum load here, a spin-cycle speed there but basically the same template.

Our journey from primordial swamp to the supposed mastery of our surroundings has culminated in a choice of hundreds. Doing the same thing.

Does it flaunt its ubiquity as the precise moment humanity condemned itself by caring more about these sort of options than peace or sustainability?

And maybe it knows something. Can this Japanese-assembled personal fabric-cleaning machine be a prescient being?

Has it seen the end? Does it want no part of what is to come? An early exit before the storm?

Perhaps it is a cubic matte-white mirror within which we see ourselves?

Perhaps it is a 5-year old washing machine.

amongst the waves

It has been a big week in surfing.

Hawaii has seen one of the biggest swells in years. Right in the middle of the prestigious ‘Triple Crown‘ too. It was so big that they even ran the ‘Eddie‘ for the first time since 2004.

They must have known about my eardrum trouble as my invitation didn’t come through.

Either that or it got lost in the post…

Not me. Not this morning - Hawaii - picture via www.coastalwatch.com

Actually that must be it as I am pretty sure they are unaware of my lack of ability in anything over 6ft, over sharp reef or with an audience.

It is a shame the swell and competition didn’t come a week later really.

Because in the other big surfing news of the week, this morning in Sydney, I returned to the water.

Obviously the conditions here were remarkably similar to the North Shore of Oahu. 1-2ft weak NE swell on a high-tide over soft sand versus 40ft monster swell over razor sharp reef and volcanic rock.

So pretty much identical.

But it was a beautiful morning which had sunshine, friends, using the new board…

Oh and earplugs.

morning yearning

How do you spend the early hours of your morning?

I am partial to sleeping. I’ve spent a few working. And of course on occasion, I have still been drinking from the night before.

But out of all of them, I think I like this way the best.

Waking up with or even before the birds and getting to the ocean. The effort made to experience it tends to be rewarded.

The light, the water, the people…

The image above can’t tell the whole story and even the full gallery would struggle.

With me still being landlocked on doctor’s orders after tempting fate, I saw my friends get some fantastic waves.

It was a different perspective from the usual. But then another perspective is always welcome.

And it still looks good from every angle.