**Giggles!**

Back in the day of Saturday Morning cartoons, Dungeons and Dragons, and even Jaws!, I wanted to learn how to surf! Now, off of East Beach, there were no waves like you get out west or even in Australia ... not even close to the ones you see in the movies. So, the best you could hope for is a hurricane to inflate those waves. Now, my mother would get really upset if I tried going into the ocean during these times, but we never really got anything close to decent waves. I think back in the Early Eighties we got one hurricane, but even then, the waves were still mediocre to say the least. Pop used to say it's because of all of the barrier islands and sandbars that scattered about the area that broke up much of the wave back then.

I was heartbroken.

But, I still kept my surfboard, The Mystic Wave!, handy, always hoping to try my hand at surfing. Now, I have tried skateboarding which was a let down ... the only skateboard park was in-land and it was occupied by the dumb and dumber, though Pop said that brain damage would do that to anyone. I tried boogie boarding which was worse since I never could get a board to work right and my poor chin was sore from falling down a lot. Mom used to say with all of my "dangerous hobbies", I was going to grow up a vegetable, drooling on Aunt Sara's or Aunt Vesta's porch. Pop laughed. "You were the one that begged her to give up on the bike, honey," he had said. That was because I kept on getting hit by cars ... realistically it was twice, the worst being the first.

I still bike ... returned to it at the bottom of last year around this time. And have almost been hit a number of times too. :)

Still, with all I have done, I felt more like an Islander than most of my friends. On top of all of the crazy physical stuff, I have been on eight boats and a couple of ships, even a tug boat here in Savannah. Now, I'm talking about sailing away from land, not just being docked.

But, one of the more iconic things was to have a Bahama Mama t-shirt while doing these sort of activities, at least the surfing and skateboarding. A tropical lady in a huge fan chair made of bamboo with a daiquiri drink. I had several that I was proud of saying that I bought over the years. They are all long gone, probably in tatters from all of my activities ... including my first bar fight that started because I had to drag my Big Sister home. Now, that was a fight!

Now, as I have said over the years, Israfel Vincent, or Taffy as she is known by her friends and family, is very much like me back in those days. Indestructible, smart, fearless, and cute to boot! And very much a Southern gal with a flare for being an islander too. So when this great artist,  lien_nguyen put this YCH commission up, I wanted to try and see if I could win it ... and the artist did a magnificent job as you can see here!

Once again, thanks for your hard work, honey! It's really appreciated!

Oh yes ... and I did some shark fishing too off of the beach and the sandbars. That was until the old people complained about attracting sharks too close to shore. One lifeguard laughed and reminded they that they only attacked old people. "It's because they taste like tough chicken." :)