Moments of Stoke: What are yours?

[Joostio]

Sorry Kus, say no to "PickleDink"!

Stokes:

Leaving work! stoke several days a week.

Riding my trials bike, almost crashing on something big.

powder day on my skis or board

driving my van to CB and being blown around on the highway

playing the drums when I'm on a good day

some golden age hip hop, tribe called quest, brand nubians, dela soul

planing a surf or ski trip

new gear, as said before

boobies!

[jellyfish]

Seeing Jellyfish make her first outside jibe in Oregon!!!!!

Being Jellyfish and making outside gybes on the Oregon coast!

Being Jellyfish and not losing a tenacle(s) to the GW Shark after a day of sailing on the Oregon Coast!

Seriously, I'm just stoked everytime I think about the freedom, ability and friends I have to sail with!

[morewind]

Great thread WindDoc!

There is so much to be STOKED about

Sailing away from a loop

Getting stoked on the water from my sailing buddies

Seeing my 7 yr old daughter comfort a younger friend who was feeling down

Skate skiing the lake trail at Mount Washington

Waking up Saturday morning, knowing I don't have to work for 2 days

Waking up Monday morning, knowing it's only 5 days til the weekend

Driving around that last bend before Gordons and seeing the bay filled with caps

Finding the groove in an acoustic guitar jam

Driving back from Gordons playing NPR all-blues on the radio

Man, talk about the power of positive thinking -- I'm feeling STOKED.

[nanmoo]

Forgot the best one:

Hitching a ride out to JR with RussianDoode with Lady Gaga pumping on the minivan Stereo. CAN YOU GET MORE STOKED?

[jellyfish]

I'm pretty sure you can.
How about a Slumber Queen carpool to CB with a bunch of Wser's dressed up for Halloween looking like some toke smoking hippie burnouts with the Grateful Dead's 'Keep on Truckin' playing
Good times until Mf4 pissed off some seniors out for a pleasant drive... with his unfriendly hand signals. We had to boot it after that in case of geriatric road rage
Now where is that picture......?

[TheLaw]

For me stoked = flow.

Whether I am gybing out of a wave after turning so hard on a wave that the board slides or stealing that smaller wave that looks okay but turns into a little power house that you ride way down wind at CB or paddling into a nice shoulder high wave at the rock pile and pumping the heck out of it to make the section and ride it all the way to the sand bar or not touching the brakes and railing the lower berms on Mt. Tzou or hearing that ringing of the crystals on top of powder that hasn't been touched in days after hiking to get somewhere that no one else has....for me all off these things have the one common element that I lust after...flow.

I know I have found it when I get to the bottom of a trail or run or end of a wave and I am saying to myself out loud "you can't take that away from me".

I can write this at 11:30 at night because of my other source of stoke...my kids. I sure hope stoke and the drive for finding flow is hereditary!

Great topic Doc!

[KUS]

At this time I feel extreme sorrow for Chris (& possibly nanmoo) to have been mentioned in the same sentence as "Nickleback" & "Kusschine".

hey, don't knock the schine the tunes selection is indiscriminate (hey, buddy, got any MP3's to steal?)and I think it's just hilarious when people take exception to something so benign they shiver, kinda like people who are afraid of small bugs

I like Lawnboy's flow thing and it applies to almost anything that works out just so....smoothly....like making it as the last guy on the ferry so even tho u had to get those things done (pack gear) and knew you were late (cuz u were dodging the boss) and then the boat actually left 30 minutes before you thought it would (u didn't check the schedule really well, did you?), u were to late to make a reservation (shit, forgot) and the line up was huge too (Coho, as it only is when YOU wanna go somewhere) u still make the boat by the skin of your teeth to hit Oregon in time for the swell to arrive....YEAH!
Lugging explosives over the ridge trudging through nutbag deep pow thinking how all these morning hours you should be carving only to have the first charge take care of the nasties and you get to ski the ridge untouched all by yourself for an hour before the lifts open....YEOW!
Getting douched hard, getting air after seemingly an hour under water (that in itself can give me stoke), calmly cracking the waterstart and making it by a couple of grams of bodyweight and balance you didn't know you had in you to crest that next bonecrusher...WICKED!
Missing that coming train by two seconds after listening to its horn for an eternity having to execute a 9 point turn with a much too fricken large suburban 4x on the railbed cuz you ran outta trail ......SHIIIIIT!
Watching the newbie getting his first waterstart, the first snowplow turn, or smooth dive into the water.....NICE WORK!
Yeah, any "WOOOOHOOOOO" from the kids is killer, doesn't really matter why but it's especially sweet if it has to do with water or airtime

Yes, the list is long.....when u think about it.....there is really no reason not to be stoked a lot of the time......except with this forecast summer holidays seem a long way off, time to find some snow or trails

[Sandy Beach]

Sun, Wind, Sand, Beach...Wind, Wind, Wind.

Windsurfing, kiteboarding and watching others play in the wind, finding their flow, where time stands still.

[BA]

That first email from your daughter when she's travelling halfway around the world!

The look on your son's face when he scores a goal!

Driving along one of many winding roads, you reach the last bend when you can finally see the whitecaps...heart starts to pound...get to the beach and you can't get rigged fast enough...have to remember to breath so you rig it right...finally you get on the water, make your waterstart and Aaaaahhhhh!

Hitting ramps or loading and popping for some airtime! Wooohooo!!

Watching fellow wind addicts land crazy moves!

Mmmm, wind please.

[nanmoo]

when u think about it.....there is really no reason not to be stoked a lot of the time......

ummm work?

[winddoctor]

Golden wood smoke and mist backlit ethereally by the setting sun after a Gordon's or JR session.

The "thwack" of a board contacting a pitching lip.

The perfect pause in time at the apex of a high backloop. I wanna live here!

The tailwind all the way to Arlington.

Being present, fully here, to experience the moment. (More Flow).

The hiss of spray from an offshore wind blowing the crest off of a throwing wave.

The blissful silence between Nickleback tracks. That's where the magic happens.

[KC7777]

Some more stoke items.....

Skiing the Orange chair Friday mornings at Manning …. then being the first to hit Blue Chair when it opens late after being closed all week….mid thigh powder on Back Bowl (Kus - you know what this is like).

Strong, dark coffee on Nitinat mornings.

Really cold beer after a soccer game or sailing.

Coaching your sons in soccer and seeing them do things on the field that you wouldn’t or couldn’t do.

Hornby Island.

Seeing the joy and wonder on my university students' faces (usually going WTF???) as I teach them the new international accounting standards.

PS – I like Nickelback…..they are just getting big out here in Chilliwack.

[KUS]

Skiing the Orange chair Friday mornings at Manning …. then being the first to hit Blue Chair when it opens late after being closed all week….mid thigh powder on Back Bowl (Kus - you know what this is like)......

PS – I like Nickelback…..they are just getting big out here in Chilliwack.

Yes indeedy and.....of course, I know that too Adding NB tracks to playlists made for great humor for about a week in OR some jokes just are timeless, eh Moo?

How about the forest smell when you hike away from all the crap in the world? smells, yeah, tastes, salt on my lips....hmmm, a juicy steak or any sort of fresh seafood? Crabfeasts, Oysters, Mussels and raw Jack Springs filets on the beach.....Hawaiian tuna delicacies, flushed with some OR IPA

The sound the mountain makes when you discover the first tracks for the day

Just now when I saw an imature yet huge Baldheaded Eagle all spotty perched on the causeway light heading to the ferry...til my camera spooked him and he took off, massive featherball in motion. What a place, this BC Let's not forget the 3' carbon pointer at CB the other day far too few feet from the beach, tho I was really stoked it didn't turn around to have a snack Just stoked to be HERE!

[Sandy Beach]

I second that, Kus...yeeehaw, Vancouver Island rocks

[winddoctor]

Great shot! I feel......stoked!