I know I’m not the only person broken up over beaches shutting down around us. Surfers are now being pulled out of the water and being ticketed. SanDiego and Laguna beaches are closed and here we are in Huntington Beach anxious and fearful that our beaches will soon be closed too. Our basic human rights are being violated, our rights to movement and freedom. As surfers, we naturally try to practice social distancing, our awareness is now heightened even more so. Surfing is not just a hobby or sport, it is a lifestyle, most of us are far more conscious than those who don’t surf. We care about our environment and our people. I believe we need to be safe to protect our elders and those who are more susceptible to getting COVID-19 but I think shutting down beaches to surfers is wrong. I agree that this past weekend way too many people were out on the boardwalks, standing around chatting and having parking lot parties, crowded around. I think it’s right to shut down boardwalks, piers and even the parking lots even though it’s a stretch but to completely keep surfers out of the water is unfair. For most of us surfing is our therapy and where we go to get away from the problems of the world. It’s our physical exercise and it’s our time to connect with Mother Nature and let off some steam. I know that I can speak for most of us that if we are not in the water we will become frustrated and even depressed. Please think about this before closing our beaches or issuing tickets. We all want to keep everybody safe and help with the well-being of others in our community but we also need to do what is right for our own physical, mental, emotional and spiritual wealth as well. We are not the problem, the issue is the people who are irresponsibly hanging out at the beaches in crowds. The people from out of town who think that because their work is closed that they can take a vacation, the people who are trying to live their best spring break during this pandemic. We just want to connect with the ocean for a bit and then head straight back home to quarantine. Please consider this!!!