SHOREWOOD, WI — Teo Buisson takes a poignant pensive pause as his legs dangle at either side of his surfboard. Water drips down his face as he rocks back and forth to the motion of the waves.
He picks his head up and see's it: it's his wave. He lays down on his board, starts to paddle and just before the moment the wave crests, Buisson pops up like he has done since he was a child and rides the wave for as far as it will take him.
The surf was good at Atwater Park in Shorewood on Monday. High winds and warm temperatures created favorable conditions. Waves were cresting around three feet.
"Any day where it's over two feet, I try to get out here if I have off on work," Buisson, a rising junior at Marquette High School said.
He is with his friend from school, Justin Hutt. They are both there to surf, but they only have one board. So, they share between themselves taking turns who gets to ride.
"Just surfing having a good time. Trying to catch some waves," Hutt said.
Surprisingly, they were the only two surfing at the beach.
"Kind of shocking there aren't more people out here today," Buisson said.
That just means more waves for them.
It's one of those moments that is hard to pass up. Both have summer jobs, but they try to fit in a quick surf sesh before they have to work. It's not often they get such good riding conditions.
"It felt pretty good," said Buisson. "Yeah, it's nice to get waves out here every once in a while."
Buisson is from San Francisco and has been surfing since he was 10 he said. Hutt only does it occasionally and said maybe he has done it a handful of times. It doesn't bother the lesser experienced Hutt though. He has his good friend to show him the ropes. Plus, Hutt has no trouble getting up and riding.
"I need improvement, but I'm having a fun time," Hutt said.
Days like these just scream summer. A Lake Michigan bath and sun-dried skin feels quintessentially July. Worries get washed away with the waves. The only question is where are the best swells.
In a moment of jest and sincerity, Hutt quotes a coffee mug you might find at the gift shop of a Miami beach resort, "Life is a beach. You just got to find your sand."
Well Monday, life was the Atwater Park Beach and their sand, was literally sand.
