Rubber quiver

I often joke with people about being a surfer in the mid-atlantic 

northeast.  Those are places that, with the exception of the summer,

most folks don't associate with surfing.  The average non-surfer

generally thinks about surfers and surfing in tropical places.  They

imagine guys in board shorts and , thanks to popular media and

fashion, girls in bikinis. They rarely think about surfing and wetsuits.

Surfers in places like New York and New Jersey, not generally

thought of as surf meccas, have learned that they must be prepared

to adapt to changing water temperatures and adjust for each season.

Sure dressing to surf in July through September, when the water is

in the high 70's and the air summer like, is easy. Throw on your 

board shorts or bikini and maybe a light 1 mil vest/top or spring suit

for the slight dawn patrol chill and you are good to go. If the air

has that morning chill maybe you need a springer or top with long

sleeves.

As summer winds into fall the water temperature drops a bit as does

the air. Fall usually means it's time for the 3 mil and late fall (November

and early December) when the ocean is warmer then the air usually

requires a hood and even a step up to a 4 mil and grab the boots and

gloves.  Then it's winter. When the combination of water and air temps

are usually a total of 70- 80 (30 to 40 degree air plus water barely 40),

it is time for the heavy suit, the 5 or 6 mil with a hood, 7 mil boots, and

gloves. Not at all the bikini or boardshort look.

So, what does all this wet suit talk have to do with life? Pretty easy

to see that to enjoy surfing, and to enjoy life, you've got to be prepared,

capable of adapting to change, and have a pretty good set of coping tools.

Sure, in some places like the tropics life and climate are easy.  The tools

for surfing and enjoyment are relatively easier. But, even in the topics

surfers deal with other issues - reefs, urchins, searing sun. Their coping

tools for those things must be different. 

Research on happiness tells us that to be happy we need to be able to adapt

to change and have a range of coping behaviors. Just like surfing - a rubber

quiver with many alternatives is vital to being happy. After all, in life

we surely can count on change and those of us who are able to adapt

enjoy the ride a lot more than those who's quiver is limited.