Domes

Looking at Dome's Beach from El Faro Park

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

This Small Town Just Got Smaller

It's been awhile since my last post, but it's always great to hear from readers who have read this blog and made it down to Rincon.  A few months ago, our friends told us of a couple they met who moved here after reading the blog and I just met a nice couple who were vacationing here who had read the blog.  The emails asking for more information are welcome too, I really feel like we were helped by so many people when we got here that I need to pay it forward.

So it is with a heavy heart that we attended a memorial ceremony for our friend, Carlos Martinez, who along with his wife Erica owned the Boarding House.  Carlos passed away last week at the age of 36 from cancer.  I think I first mentioned Carlos in a blog post from 2010 titled The Surf Brought us, the people keep us...Then I wrote,

 "Carlos, who runs the Boarding House Surf school and rentals really epitomizes the Rincon attitude as we have found it to be. When Cyndi was looking to buy a board he offered up a few to try out so she would know what she liked and when I expressed some interested, he pulled out a big 11 foot board and shoved in my hands and told me to get out on the waves with my wife. When I got my hands on a nice longboard that needed a few fixes, he took care of it and found a cheap used fin for Cyndi's board, all the while not worrying about how he would get paid, more interested in us getting out on the waves. Not everyone in Rincon has this esthetic, but the more people we meet, the more nice things we have to say."

And he really did, a few months ago when my wife Cynthia had just bought her horse and managed to  find a piece of land for him to stay on, the horse got out and went searching for a mare.  It was Carlos who found the horse and made a quick lead and tie out of an old surfboard leash, then let us know where we could get him, also offering to help repair the fence on the land where he was boarded. 

At the memorial, organized by his wife, who has been so courageous and strong, we heard many similar stories, stories of Carlos' never-ending smile, unselfishness and welcoming spirit. There was a sunset paddleout, a prayer circle,  a short slideshow and then we lit Thai lanterns that sailed into the Rincon sky above the ocean.  A beach bonfire and music went deep into the night. And the small town we live in came together to share it's sadness and loss, but I think we also connected to the possibilities of a life, and how  spirit can transcend mere mortality.  It was one of those moments that maybe could only happen in Rincon, maybe only for a person like Carlos.

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