Like most people here, I work really hard to provide for my family so that we can enjoy all the blessings of the beachlife.A I have always been happy to trade the career opportunities of the "outside world" for the riches of uncrowded surf, laidback people, and the gratifying feeling one gets just surviving the winters and the storms.A The cyclical nature of our tourism centric economy I find to be an engaging and exciting cahllenge rather than a burdon to bear.A Like the seasons changing, we prepare for summer like the natural world does, rebuilding more beautifully every spring.

At the risk of rambling in several directions at once, I would also love to hear other locals thought about the lack of books about the history of surfing on the Outer Banks.A Every other area of the country can trace the evolution of our sport through libraries of historical books on the subject, but here, somehow, I have yet to find ONE.A I worry that the old-timers, the ones that picked up surfing during WWII and brought boards back here, are dying without having their stories preserved.A I hope someone somewhere is working on saving our heritage right now.A I wish I was not so busy and could do some of it myself.

Well I am done blabbing for now.

Hope to hear from lots of you out there!

Ben