You just have to be ready for the next wave.

The sun dawns over the Atlantic like a red Gummy Bear. Melting on the ocean, the sun turns the wave crests crimson as they break on the white sand. Reaching further,the dawn stretches and yawns across the dunes, boardwalk, and Ocean Boulevard in Seaside Park New Jersey. Peaking into the window of John's Aunt's Victorian, it finds John spralled on his bed with an open bag of Gummy Bears on his pillow.

John opens his eyes, eats a few Gummy Bears, puts on a Disney World shirt and boarder shorts and heads downstairs. The ocean breeze is blowing the lace curtains in the parlor. His Aunt's house is filled with antiques, the steamer trunk his grandmother brought with her from Ireland, A big, oak table with massive, carved legs, framed immigration documents on the walls plus some of John's ocean paintings. He hears water running in the kitchen...Aunt Margaret must be washing dishes in the kitchen.

John's eyes widen as he sees an empty, country kitchen with a beautiful, waterfall: the kitchen sink over-floowing on to the tiny tiled floor. John runs over to shut the faucet off. His hand gets soap on it because Aunt Margaret puts soap on the faucet that is touched by dirty hands. John turns and runs out of the slippery-soaked kitchen and onto the back deck to get a mop and bucket. He sees his aunt laughing with a neighbor. His aunt waves and sees John frantically grabbing the bucket and mop.

Aunt Margaret to the neighbor

'Oh, he's very clean...especially for a boy.'

John runs back into the kitchen and mops up the mess as a gentle, salty breeze makes the Irish lace curtains blow. Surf may be up with a breeze like that John thinks.

John runs out onto the back deck, grabs his surboard and waves to his aunt and the neighbor. The purple and pink flower border at their feel blow in the breeze. John walks fast across Ocean Boulevard as a yellow jeep wrangler with a red sur board beeps hello a it passes him. John waves back as he walks up a short ramp to the boardwalk. He heads onto a wooden walkway between the dunes. The ocean breeze blows back his blonde hair as he sees a trackless white sandy beach and good sized waves.   

John lays his surboard down on the sand and grabs the wax bar from his back pocket. He waxes his board, looks around and sees he is totally alone on the beach. That won't last he thinks as he puts the wax bar back into his back pocket and buttons it. As he walks into the salty water, the ocean feels a little cool on his ankles, thighs, waist and entire body. He jumps on the board and just misses a beautiful wave for riding. He remembers how missing those kinds of waves became a philosophy of life. When you miss out on something, or life is bad, you have to hang on and ride it out. There always is another wave. You have to be ready for it. And being ready for the nextwave creates hope. And I for one need hope John thinks as he gets up on the board to surf.