"Dropping in”
A few thoughts by Logan Vegh, Great Lakes Surfer and FLSC contributor
A phrase that has developed multiple meanings in my life.
Pictured here, we have the greatest feeling known to surfing. Potential energy and mystery of what lies ahead of us. We’re drawn to this weightless surrender.
Dropping in is a blessing.
Being a surfer from Michigan, we are all aware this wave is known for the drop-in. The bounce off our pier has developed a cult following. The closer you sit to the wall, the heavier the drop. I’m an addict.
Dropping in is a blessing.
Change the semantics a bit, however. We all know the bitter sting of getting dropped in on. Rage.
This wave, the closest to my home, has been seeing an influx of new surfers. Soft tops run rampant in the warmer weeks of summer here. The wave ideally serves a crowd of two or three maximum. Any more than this, and we have mayhem. I’m struggling to find peace in these moments.
Dropping in is a blessing I care too much to lose.
Similarly, we shift and add some words. Local corporations in West Michigan have been dropping in sewage to our water systems.
The Black River in South Haven recently had a sewage spill of 3000 gallons in August. I had an all-time log session at a sandbar in South Haven a few days after, and the sickness that followed the next day had me nearly call off work.
Just the same, almost every time I surf my home wave pictured here, I walk away with nose dripping and sneezing fits the next morning.
I fear our little lake surfing community is too small to make an impact on the polluted waters we surf.
Yet, dropping in is a blessing I care too much to lose.
I write these words in search of counsel from the larger surfing world.
What do you do to soothe these tensions that stand in the way of sliding down a wave and the bliss that comes from dropping in?
Photos by Simon Berghoef
