Body Boarding Stalky

I got my body board out for the first time of the "season" yesterday.  Oh, how I've missed body boarding.  Oh, how I love body boarding.  It's so much fun.  There are probably a few levels of body boarding that one can achieve, from floating in an inch of water to tackling huge waves out with the surfers.  I sit somewhere in the middle.  Body boarding is a serious business for some folk and they're right out there with wet suits and flippers, sailing along a wave before disappearing in a cloud of foaming water.  I might like to get out there one day but I think I'll always be too much of a wimp.  I prefer the waves that will bounce me up to the beach.  I don't like getting devoured by a wave.  The key to catching a good wave is to get it just as it's breaking.  This can mean an excellent ride right up to the beach, taking out a few kids as you go before literally bouncing up the sand.  You have to be careful though.  Get it wrong and before you know it you're heading face first for the sand as the wave flips you over.  Then you're under the water, your board is...somewhere and your legs are sticking out of the water.  Not a nice experience.  Somehow it feels like you're underwater forever and you lose your sense of direction, suddenly unsure of which is up and which is down.  All this and you're only waist deep in water.  You're actually only under for a few seconds and when you pop up you're sure everyone is laughing at you.  But no one even noticed.  Shoot some sea water out of your nose and you're ready to go again.  I've recently started to get the hang of steering, which I'm happy about, though I do only seem to be able to go in one direction.  It's a hazard of body boarding that people will get in your way.  Sometimes you can steer around them.  Sometimes you have to jump off the board to avoid a collision.  Sometimes it's impossible to do anything and you wipe out a fellow beach goer.  That can be awkward.  But with all the "hazards" of body boarding, it's still great fun.  I highly recommend it!