Times Up Surf's Up Newport Beach Stays Pat stays

Time to escape the Beltway and see sanity coming in the form of endless waves crashing onto the Newport Beach shore. After biking down in shorts and t-shirt on this February 5, 2014 day to the Wedge in Newport Beach to witness the surfers challenge some decent waves, I returned home to open up the news on the internet and read the story about the plea of the surfers to have more surfer time to the decrease of body surfer time at the Wedge. Surfers and body surfers do not mix, especially when surfers fall and their board becomes the near equivalent of a Harpoon missile. The Newport Beach City Council after hearing the pleas of body surfers not to infringe on their time, punted and kept the times as they were.
     Nice thing about growing up in Alaska and later near Lake Coeur d'Alene and Lake Lag at Stanford when it had water, is that I never learned how to surf and therefore never got the chance nor the desire to be pounded into oblivion by waves crashing on to the sand. For those readers not familiar with Newport Beach, its new city hall originally budgeted for $60 million finally came in at $135 million. So typical of the public sector--while the private sector avoids office space like a bad case of dandruff, the public sector builds mini Taj Mahals. It's located high on a hill  with great ocean views and a design that looks like waves of concrete, so beautifully shaped, that a surfer just denied more access to the Wedge, could imagine Hanging Ten on those concrete waves. Hope you enjoy the comment on the action by the Council.
The Endless Summer Faces an Early Winter

It may be ironic that though the ocean covers over 2/3 of the earth

When it comes to waves, this is serious business, dog eat dog, no ease or mirth
Endless battles over who can ride the surf
Especially at water’s edge when it meets the turf
Never more contested than at a sliver of ocean known as the Wedge
Where bodies and boards fight to obtain the Hang Ten edge
For a body and a boarder to a wave share
Is as difficult as walking on one hand up a steep flight of stairs
Not even a Solomon could bring order to this Wedge dispute
And so in desperation surfing segregation has taken root
On the Wedge only in the early morning and late afternoon may boards ride the waves.
Otherwise it’s bodies only who broken neck chances get to brave
An uneasy peace like Versailles the borders want to change
A few more borders’ hours with only a slight hours rearrange
City Fathers of Newport Beach any change in hours they reject
Many of the borders are not voters and new councils they cannot elect
So status quo on the Wedge but no Nobel Peace Prize in Newport Beach
With population aging, fewer borders to the council for a change to beseech.
If we can spend over 130 million dollars for a new city hall
An idea that might win the hearts of bodies, borders, residents and tourists all
The Wedge is a product of a long groin and a steep shore break
Find another shore break and with our millions a long groin let’s replicate
One Wedge for the bodies, one Wedge for the boards
No further need to allocate or surfing time horde
Huntington Beach may be Surf City, but we will be the city of the Dual Wedge
When it comes to sales tax tourist dollars we will have the decisive edge.
© February 5, 2014 Michael P. Ridley aka the Alaskanpoet