It's official! I'm a Barney!

Barney, kook, call me whatever, but I did get in the water with a surfboard for the first time this weekend. The big question of course, is "did you catch a wave."
My response? What waves? The Texas surf was flatter than a 12 year old gymnast this weekend! Actually, I've never seen such flat, glassy water in my life, and I've been to Galveston 100 times.
Don't get me wrong, I tried, and I got just far enough to know that yes, I can in fact get up on a surfboard when an actual wave presents itself. The catch was that the double over-ankle waves were breaking approximately 15 feet before the center fin started dragging the sand.
However, it was still a great experience and I did accomplish quite a bit that will help me out on the next trip (the one with maybe some, you know, waves).
My cousin, who was giving me the lessons, actually said that this was sort of a good thing, that I was forced to work on the real basics (paddling and popping up to a sitting position and sitting comfortably on the board without tumping over) so that when I do get out in surfable conditions, I won't have to waste as much time getting out there.
And although I was dissappointed that I didn't get the opportunity to ride waves, I was very encouraged by the difference between my first few minutes on the board and the way I handled it by the end of the day.
It's a slow ride, but I'll get there.