Watch the Water

The sun is shinning so I will fire up the solar heater. It has been off for the last 4 days ( Saturday) because it has been overcast everyday since then. It will take the whole day to warm it back up above 80 degrees. California surfing water temperatures are in the low 70's and that is what I used to swim in as a child in California. 1950-1960
My sister and I were swimming at Long Beach when I got hit on the back of my head by a big wave (7 or 8 foot) and went toppling backwards like a cartwheel (with my knees in my chest) and lost my bearing as to what was up or down until I felt the sand. The pull back to the next wave was so strong that it took every once of my energy to fight my way back to shore.

I searched the Internet for Long Beach and I found this picture postcard of where I got caught up in the undertow. The photo is exactly where dad and Margie took Sandy and I to the beach. We stayed out too long and the tide came in while we were swimming.
On the other side of that pier was a rock breakwater and a rainbow pier to keep the waves off the Long Beach Municipal Auditorium and on the other side of the auditorium was the Pike Amusement Park.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Pike
One thing the photo did was to show how volatile the waves were at Long Beach in this area. I have told a lot of people what happened to me that day at that point in time. I did see one high school student at Temple City High School later on in my Freshman year that had a neck brace for a broken neck where a wave hit him just as it hit me ( I was maybe in the sixth or seventh grade when it hit me).