sparky.

i met sparky in tamarindo. we were staying the same hostel/compound. when we arrived, he had already been there for some time. most definitely hiding from something. divorce. frustration. family and god know what else. he was the angriest person i've ever met. exploding into fits of rage over the most minute of things.and he loved the sauce. it made me nervous.

at the same time he was overly kind, generous and big hearted. he let everyone in the compound use his international cell phone. an expensive luxury no doubt. he would buy and cook dinner for everyone, which i and my friends perceived as a grand gesture because we were trying to make the most of what little money we had. he was happy to have company.

he had two old surfboards. both of which he had owned since the 70's. a longboard and a little single fin. not as easy to ride as contemporary boards. he told us great stories of the monster waves he used to rip back in the day, using near by buildings and trees as size references.

we surfed the north end of the rivermouth one afternoon. really small little lefts. super fun for longboarding. the second he'd catch a wave he'd adorn the most sincere smile you'd ever seen. as if all the problems he so obviously bore were no longer issues. he tip toed all across that fat old relic of his. and made it look easy. he was the image of happy. you could see it in his face and it made me happy to be there.

when we left tamarindo, we exchanged info with sparky. never expecting to hear from him despite our proximity (he was from richmond, we from the outer banks).

several months later i received a phone call at work. someone on the other end butchering my name as i am accustomed to. it was sparky, drunk no doubt, cussing like he'd never been around a child and talking gibberish about coming to hatteras. i made superficial conversation and shrugged it off. worried by the idea of him coming down. and knowing what a liability he was.

i haven't heard from him since. only have heard that he had terminal cancer the whole time we had known him.

i still feel really guilty about blowing him off. i have no proper way to apologize other than to remember him fondly. so i choose to think of him surfing because that is so obviously where he wanted to be. cheers to you sparky. im glad to have made your aqquantance.

matt and sparky jamming.

sparky feeding the people.