The inflatable man arrived in the mail today. Now we can put the finishing touches on our Surfing Santa. Last year Paul and the kids made a “wave” out of chicken wire, strung it with blue lights, and placed a blown up doll dressed in a wetsuit wearing a Santa hat inside it and put in on our roof.  It was the talk of the neighborhood. Everyone got it because we live in probably one of the most famous surfing towns in the world. We actually have a Surfing Museum where you can  see the remains of shark-gnawed wetsuits on display next to video displays of the wetsuit owners showing off their bloody stumps and talking about their encounters with Jaws. Having grown up on the East coast where it snowed from October until March, it was very difficult for me  at first to adjust to tropical Christmases. I’ll never forget the first time I went to the Lighted Boat Parade at the harbor to see Santa arrive on a sailboat dressed in a Hawaiian Luau shirt. Yes Virginia, there really is a Santa … and he’s drunk on Tequila.

Now that I’ve lived here for 16 years, I’ve adapted to and have embraced the California Christmas and Surfing Santa is one of the highlights. Last year’s Santa we bought at one of those cheezy gag gift stores at the mall and he was kind of porny looking. When he deflated, we needed to replace him and ordered a new one on-line. This one is much more realistic, complete with chest hair. When the Surfing Santa display is finished I’ll take a photo and post it.

Happy Surfing Holidays.