Frisbee!

"When a ball dreams, it dreams it is a Frisbee" Stancil Johnson This beautiful thought makes me want to ask: of what do Frisbees dream? "To Fris Is To Be" One of my favorite works of art, an original, by Kate Van der Wende, my Frisbee partner for many years. From this airbrushed piece, Kate made one copy, and one t-shirt, which I have worn many times, always smiling. Jammin' "It's Sunny. It's Summer. It's Saturday. It's Southern California." The words burst forth from me, a vain attempt to summarize the Perfection of the moments I am experiencing. But wait! There's More! I'm driving a Jag, south from my place to Torrey Pines State Beach only one mile away, with the intent to commit frisbee thereupon... well, that's just got to qualify as a Perfect moment. "What could be better? Nothing!" I ask and answer. "We could put the top down" says Mark. Damn if he doesn't have a point. The top retracts as we roll through the stop sign at the end of my street. Still in the shade, no sunlight was lost in this maneuver. The moment remains perfect. This is proof that Perfect can be Improved, and also that Multiple Perfects Can Exist Simultaneously. More on this later, because I don't want to lose the moment, which remains Perfect, and now recently Improved. "Now! What could be better?" I say, once more into the moment in all its newly Improved Perfection. "Nothing!" I reply, again, awash in a sea of bliss. Mark is quiet. His spirit is now still. Perfect becomes even More Perfect. The beach conditions were .. oh, what's the word... Out-FREAKING-standing! And that's Perfect with a plus sign and an underline. A lingering Red Tide lurked beyond the surfline, yet the barely-waves were clear and clean. A huge area by the inlet was deep ankle-to-knee, with rolling mini-swells over a smooth sand bottom ideal for running. No better conditions exist on this planet for jammin' with a disc. The water was just Deep Enough. Deep Enough to still allow sprinting, to make great splashes while running. Deep Enough to be extra exercise, but only enough to be fun. Deep Enough to cushion falls from diving catches (and misses). Deep Enough to keep it wet. A wet frisbee is a happy frisbee. A wise man* once observed: "When a ball dreams, it dreams it is a frisbee." I often wondered... of what does a frisbee dream? And now I know: "When a frisbee dreams, it dreams it is wet." And I can say no more. *Stancil Johnson is credited with this brilliant insight. And yet there are no monuments to him. It will take Time. The World's Greatest Frisbee Party Paganello 2002 March 29th - April 1st (Friday through Monday) Rimini, Italy I was there! Click on the links below for some frisbee videos from that awesome event. Paganello Video 1 Paganello Video 2 Paganello Video 3 Paganello Video 4 Frisbee Video clips Mark airbrushing to a diving catch! Mark airbrushing on the run MM doing a back roll MM airbrushing on the run A Good Way to Die Playing Frisbee on the beach running through water deep to the knee. The disc is coming fast and wide. A diving catch, my arms outstretched, I'm flying! Weightless in the air... And then it ends. From the other side of Life I watch the surf embrace what once was me still smiling, prize in hand! © copyright 2001, MM written on the first day of Summer, 2001 after playing Frisbee at Torrey Pines beach The Beaufort Wind Scale The Beaufort scale was introduced in 1806 by Admiral Sir Francis Beaufort (1774-1857) of the British navy to describe wind effects on a fully rigged man-of-war sailing vessel. It was later extended to include descriptions of effects on land features as well. Today the accepted international practice is to report wind speed in knots (1 knot equals about 1.85 km, or 1.15 mi, per hour). The TPBFFA has determined, after extensive research, that the ideal wind conditions for Frisbee on the beach are in the range of 2 to 4 on the Beaufort scale. Beaufort Avg miles per hour Avg km per hour Knots Surroundings 0 (calm)  0 0 0-1 Smoke rises vertically and the sea is mirror smooth 1 (light air) 1.2-3 2-5 1-3 Smoke moves slightly with breeze and  shows direction of wind 2 (light breeze) 3.7 – 7.5 6 – 12 4-6 You can feel wind on your face and hear the leaves start to rustle 3 (gentle breeze) 8 – 12.5 13 – 20 7-10 Smoke will move horizontally and small branches start to sway. Wind extends a light flag. Ideal Frisbee conditions. 4 (moderate breeze) 13 – 18.6 21 – 30 11-16 Loose dust or sand on the ground will move and larger branches will sway, loose paper blows around, and fairly frequent whitecaps occur 5 (fresh breeze) 19.3 - 25 31 – 40 17-21 Surface waves form on water and small trees sway 6 (strong breeze) 25.5 - 31 41 - 50 22-27 Trees begin to bend with the force of the wind and causes whistling in telephone wires and some spray on the sea surface 7 (moderate gale) 32 - 38 51-61 28-33 Large trees sway 8 (fresh gale)   39 - 46 62-74 34-40 Twigs break from trees, and long streaks of foam appear on the ocean 9 (strong gale) 47 - 55 75-89 41-47 Branches break from trees 10 (whole gale)  56 - 64 90-103 48-55 Trees are uprooted, and the sea takes on a white appearance 11 (storm) 65 - 74 104-119 56-63 widespread damage 12 (hurricane) 75+ 120+ 64 + Structural damage on land and storm waves at sea

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