Surf Fridays!

It was dinner and a movie. But not just any movie and not just any dinner. It was Dear & Yonder at the Pie Ranch in the sleepy town of Pescadero.

The Pie Ranch crew. The gentleman in the hat is the one who shot the wild boar for our dinner.

The stylin' sounds of The Mattson 2. What you can't see is that to the right, there are a group of little children mesmerized by the music, swaying and bobbing.

Also you can't really tell from this photo, but the chickens were dancing. They really liked Jonathan's drumming.

Dear and Yonder Dinner

Homemade bread and local wine

Best date night all summer. (A down jacket will only seem strange if you've never been to northern California in the summer).

JP from Sea Level Farm. He supplied the organic tomatoes and green beans and we heard he's a wicked surfer.

Wholesome enjoyment

Tiffany Morgan Campbell and Andria Lessler introducing their film.

After the movie it was time for some art. Board shaped by Ashley Lloyd and painted by Serena Mitnik-Miller.

I was very keen on seeing Dear & Yonder because it's a surf film for ladies, about ladies. I was stoked when I found out that it was playing nearby, and there was the option to have a farm dinner, too. It sounded like heaven. And it was, it really was.

Imagine driving along the country coast for miles, and turning onto a dirt driveway marked by a small wooden sign. You walk down a long road, past a few barn structures until you see a gathering of friendly looking people. You get a wine glass filled with a local wine and just ahead you see many long, wooden tables pushed together and decorated with big flowers in mason jars.

On this evening I added organic farmers to my list of heroes. The farmers that donated their food to this dinner are wonderful people, young folks and they are doing organic farming because they really care and they really like what they're doing. JP in the photo above, has been farming for 14 years. He kind of fell into it, he told us, but loves doing it. And it's hard work! Word on the street is that his tomatoes are legendary, and they tasted like it.

Jay noticed how a lot of the food tasted "earthy" like it came straight from the earth, from good soil, right to the table.

After the delicious and leisurely meal, it was time to walk over to a barn and find a bail of hay to perch on or spread out a blanket. Organic popcorn with sea salt was available in a brown paper bag. They really thought of everything. Tiffany and Andria introduced their film while Thomas Campbell helmed the projector.

The movie starts with a comprehensive history of women's surfing with a voiceover by Tiffany. It then goes into modern surfing with gorgeous film shots of some of our best lady surfers today. The film mirrors The Present in that it has some comedy bits (and was also shot on film). I enjoyed the part where Ashley and Andy Davis took turns catching waves while the other watched their young son. One of them was taking more time in the water than the other and...well, I can picture that scenario down the road for Jay and I.

It profiled several dynamic women so that you get to know more about them and their artistry while riding a wave or shaping a board. There was also a cool skateboarding segment. For some reason I was very surprised when the movie ended. It was about one hour long but it seemed so brief. Maybe I just didn't want it to be over.

My most favorite part of the film was about a young woman named Liz Clark. She blew my mind. Liz is a young surfer, freedom seeker and environmentalist... who has been traveling around the world on her 40-foot sailboat for 3 years. She fishes for her meals, dives for seaweed salad and climbs coconut trees. She'll anchor her boat outside a break and surf for awhile. You can read about some of her adventures on her blog and in pages 52-63 of the current issue of The Surfers Journal.



Happy Surf Fridays everyone!