Dylan and I didn’t have many days where it was just the two of us, especially as he got older. However, I was fortunate enough to have a great day with him as fall was about to begin. Dylan didn’t have to work, and I decided take a week off between jobs when I was laid off at SalonCentric. I wanted to take a day to go catch waves some place where I had not been in the water before. I was hoping for some bigger waves and longer rides than usual. I asked Dylan if he would go with me in case I needed rescuing, since I knew there wouldn’t be many, if any, people out that weekday.

It was overcast and cold. Dylan wore what had become his trademark white and black striped hooded sweatshirt jacket. I wanted to go to Silver Strand beach in Oxnard, since it was close and we had to get back to pick Marisa up from school. We checked out the north end of the beach, and it didn’t look promising. It was freezing cold and look like there would not be much worthwhile. I was determined, because I knew it would be my last chance for a long time. I decided to check out the south end of the beach. We walked out and looked over the huge stretch of sand to the water. This was more what I was looking for. Not quite as big as what I hoping for, but good enough. I got my stuff, and Dylan took a beach chair along with his iPod and phone and headphones, and we made the long walk down to the shore. I probably spent about an hour and half out in the water. Once in while Dylan would get up and walk down to the shore to laugh at me while I was eating sand. It was fun, but that was not even the best part of the day.

After I was convinced that we were sufficiently cold and I was done until a new season, we headed back to the car. The new car. We spent quite a while out on that street trying to get the sand off the board and wetsuit. I did my best to keep from mooning the neighbors while I got into my clean clothes, because I didn’t want to get a lot of sand in the seat. We finally gave up and piled into the car, and turned the heater all the way up.

We cruised around the area a little bit and eventually ended up at Port Hueneme Pier. I don’t remember what we talking about, but I know it felt like a great moment while we talking over the car while I was getting my shoes and jacket on. A seagull flow overhead that for some reason caught our attention. We were probably worried it would shit on us. None the less, we headed out towards the pier with goal being to reach the end, of course. We talked a lot that day. Games, music, life. Even politics. I loved hearing his idealistic left leaning thoughts. I would contrast his with my mostly moderate stance. I would throw out a couple tough questions that neither of us could provide the answers like so many before us. We made it out to the end of the pier where a few people were fishing. The wind was cutting through our already cold bodies, so we picked up the pace and headed back. We passed some fisherman who caught something that gave us pause, but I don’t remember what it was. Maybe a tiger shark. We walked by some young men that looked like they were looking for trouble. I kept my head up and maintained a confident strut — in someway thinking I was protecting my 20 year old son. By the time we got back to the car, we were nearing a jogging pace, because we were so cold. We were hungry and done with the days outside adventure. We drove around a while looking for a place to grab some lunch. GPS may have been involved in locating a Subway. We ate pretty quick in there because it was so damn cold inside the restaurant too. It didn’t matter, because the great conversation just kept coming. Those conversations maintained themselves for duration of entire ride home.

It was a really great day.