Mark of the Beast

Well, this weekend I went out surfing with my roommate and his girlfriend to get my second surf lesson in. I've done bodyboarding and have lived near the ocean most of my life, but I've never really gotten into surfing. This summer, while the water was a little warmer, I wanted to try and learn. My roommate was willing to teach me so we decided to go out on Saturday morning. The waves were fairly small, and I wanted to take it easy after having a rough start the first time. This time I was doing well, standing up on the board. My roommate and I had both felt some Sting Rays under our feet so I was trying to shuffle around when I could to not get stung. After about ten minutes I caught a wave, stood up, and then got off my board only to land on something slimy before feeling something hit me in the side of my foot. After letting out a few profanities, my roommate asked me if I had stepped on a Sting Ray. I was sure I had so we went in so that we could get to the closest lifeguard tower. The first five minutes after weren't too bad so I limped over to the closest lifeguard tower, and they dragged me off shortly after to the main station so that I could stick my foot in hot water.

As I was sitting there soaking my foot, I felt like I was part of a club. The lifeguards and a few other people walking by saw the wound and told me their stories of being stung. The funniest story I heard was from one of the lifeguards, who told me that he had treated a guy who rolled of his board, and got stung in the groin. He told me this story while the pain was at it's worst, so I couldn't even imagine getting stung in the groin as I looked at the hole in my foot. I could laugh about my sting as I was eating breakfast about an hour and a half later. I think an injury in the groin like that would probably make me give up going to the beach. I never liked sand that much anyway. :)