Now that the offshore winter is a fading memory and a glassed-off summer feels like a fantasy, I can’t help but feel lost in San Francisco’s waveless limbo. It’s another wet evening in our second spring of lockdown, we’ve been here before. Sandwiched between the bookends of the past and the future, what kind of stories do we tell ourselves to keep the narrative moving forward even on the slowest of days?
It’s been nearly a year of posting weekly to BambooBlister. Birthed from a manic afternoon in the office and reborn in a quarantine, this blog has been a place to solidify my memories, ideas, and omnipotent fascination for that oceanic world. Scrolling backwards through these posts feels like scrolling backward through the year.
On paper, you’d think that this wouldn’t be the best year to rummage through. I mean, we are essentially back where we started. How can we go anywhere and stay in the same place the whole time? Mimicking the repetition of waves breaking on a shoreline, days come and go to the point that they are indistinguishable. Yet deep down we all understand that no two days are identical, no two waves exactly the same.
This blog is proof of a year in the water. A year spent clawing for nuance within the mundane by packing up the car and heading to the beach over and over again. I’m not sure what I’d be without surfing– without the ocean. I’m not sure I want to find out. BambooBlister is a timestamp on one of the most unforgettable yet forgettable years we may ever have. And we are not done yet.
While this blog will continue to extend its digital tendrils as the pandemic trickles to an eventual end, it will always be a reminder of the ways that we cope with isolation, repetition, and uncertainty.
Thank you for the support. The texts. The comments. The phone calls. It’s a blessing to share this aquatic diary and be greeted with such profound acceptance, let alone praise. I’m thankful to have this space to continue documenting my journey around that hula-hoop of time, focusing on the waves, sessions, and good friends that make it all worthwhile.
Moving forward, I hope that BambooBlister will continue to evolve and that we continue to create a collaborative environment. I am still accepting reader submissions to share amongst this little web oasis. Short stories, poems, essays, photography, and video, will all be welcomed with open arms (and a free t-shirt). Submit them here and I will get back to you quickly. By this point, I know many of my readers on a personal level, and I know that there are so many stories to tell.
In other news, I have an extremely small inventory of BambooBlister t-shirts that just arrived. Shout out to my sister, Eliza, for designing them and coordinating the printing efforts. If you’re feeling particularly eager to rep this nerdy, underground surf blog, reach out via the Community tab and we can arrange shipping and payments while supply lasts.
Still rounding the corner,
Oliver
BAMBOOBLISTER 
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