I Admire This Guy

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Word association: when I say 'Mulroney', what word, or words, immediately pop into your head?
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Is it scum bag? Thought so. Me too!
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What if the word was 'Trudeau'? That's a bit more of a challenge since Pierre was more polarizing (everyone hates Mulroney). When I say 'Trudeau', what word orbits your mind? For me, I think windsurfer. Isn't that odd?
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Not really. I know a guy called Guy...Guy Trudeau, who is, in my unhumble opinion, the epitome of what it is to be a windsurfer. Compared to Guy Trudeau, the rest of us boom grabbers are all posers. In windsurfing, for sure, but perhaps in life too.
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What concerns do most of us face in our daily lives? We're all so comfortably beyond food and shelter that we're thinking about iPhones, big screen televisions and espresso machines. We're devastated if our carpets don't match our drapes (in this case, not a euphemism aimed at bottle blonds, I'm actually talking about interior decor). We get upset when a dandelion appears on our lawn (get my shotgun, Dot, I'm goin' after it!)
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Guy Trudeau tucks himself into bed every night just like Matt Foley. Matt Foley was a character played by Chris Farley on Saturday Night Live. Matt Foley was a motivational speaker who lived in a van down by the river. Guy Trudeau lives in a van down by the ocean, in les Iles de la Madeleine, and he is incredibly motivational. I could never do what Guy does, but I admire him greatly for his true and unwavering dedication to the addiction we call windsurfing. Guy is the best windsurfer in Quebec's island archipelago. He's not some hot shot twenty year old who doesn't know any better. He's a hot shot forty year old, who does.
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So what's the appeal of living in a van down by the ocean, windsurfing every single day that the wind blows. The answer is simplicity. Guy isn't caught up in the trappings that mire most of us. There is no lawn to mow, no mortgage to fret about, no eavestroughing to clean, no trim to paint. There is only the van, the ocean, the wind, and an old laptop. On the surface, it's a very simple existence. Deep down, I suspect that Guy is very much in touch with himself. While most of us gather our reflections in well lit mirror housed in tiled bathrooms, Guy reflects a life lived in his outdoor eyes. If Guy died today, I would think that he would have no regrets. How many of us can say that?
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So what are the nuts and bolts of living in a van down by the ocean? Everyone needs money, even Guy. Is he a leisurologist? Not quite. Guy is a seasonal leisurologist and a fine one at that. He takes jobs in the winter (i.e. substitute teaching), lives frugally and focuses his energies on maintaining his vagabond lifestyle throughout the summer and fall. How I would have loved to have had a supply teacher like him when I was a student. It's rare to find a teacher who's cooler than the students, though my friends Peter Wiggins (N.B.) and Manuela Imhof (Switzerland) are notable examples. I don't know if Guy ever talks to his students about his life, but I sure hope so.
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A couple of years ago Guy was telling me, in his marginally broken English, about a particularly epic day windsurfing on the waves. The waves were logo high (about 10 feet) and they very much tried to ruin his day. Walls of whitewater did their best to keep him pinned to shore, particularly as he tried to head out into deeper water. They failed. Guy said that it was both exciting and scary as he surfed back into shore. He added that he was laughing out loud as he was careening and carving down the frothing and cresting waves. He said he was "yellow laughing", a term that, at first, left me confused. He was, of course, yellow (scared) but laughing with utter joy. Lost in translation? Absolutely not! It's poetry.
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How often are we able to step away from our worries and our commitments and enjoy an extended moment of unfettered freedom? It's hard to say if Guy will ever own a home, have a wife and kids, or drive a sedan with satellite radio and heated seats. He may not play the game that the rest of us play, yet I sense that he's winning on his own terms. He smiles more than most people. He laughs in colours that we paint on walls. He lives in a van down by the ocean.