castles in the sand

I recently came back into contact with an old 'beach friend' of mine who I had lost contact with for a couple of years, and it got me thinking about some very good times in my life. For a little over a year I was living in a van out in San Diego,  on the beach, where I met my friend John and his Pit Bull 'Chance'. He was living in a winnebago , I, in the van and we had alot in common. We would share info on where we could park safely at night, who was who on the beach,  (politics) where to sometimes find a warm shower, etc. He showed  me how he surfed the dog and where to stash our bigger boards on the beach overnight so they wouldn't get ripped off. We weren't the only ones living on the road like that, and actually the community we had was awesome. Somebody had a grill, another guy had coals for it. Somebody had some meat , another was sauteing vegetables some how, who's got the beer? well I've got the weed. It was awesome.  I never felt a sense of togetherness then in most of that year at that beach. We had a million dollar view for free.
    It wasn't long before my friend passed the torch to me and left for a motel up the street. I had the dog, the boards, and the parking spot by the park bench.  AND WE SURFED. Lots of people came and went, but we were always a fixture. You could always count on the same thing everyday. The stories go on and on, in fact I've been trying to write a book about it for like 2 years now, maybe coming into contact with my old friend has inspired me to pick it back up. I don' know, I DO know that revisiting those old photos and knowing that my old 'beach friend' is well made me super happy. Ironically he is living in New Mexico and I in Phoenix. It seems like a 1000 miles from the beach for sure, but life is good now. For one, I'm not homeless anymore. I have two great dogs of my own and I was pleased to find out that my friend is still a very proud papa to Chance. 

Above is a pic of Chance and I at Tourmaline Surf Park in PB, I was just getting ready to take him for a surf. That is my van in the background and Johns legs, haha.

Whats the point of all this? Good Memories I guess, Peace!