It’s only been a few days since the Cali Rally came to a sliding halt. And well, it hasn’t been easy for us either.

Where there used to be stand-up paddle joust-offs to the death, there’s now just an empty void. Where there was once shredding in speedos, illegal border crossings by surfboard, cougar hunting, body surfing on inflatable sea monsters, there’s just fleeting memories of good times past. Where there was… Oh, you get the point.

From San Diego to Santa Cruz, a whirlwind of stunts, dares, pranks, and general debauchery barraged the coastline. We all vicariously lived through the escapades online. The surf world’s never seen anything like it. Matter of fact, no one’s ever seen anything like it. But don’t take my word for it, though, click here.

Anyway, all this helps explain some of the sad and pathetic measures I’ve observed around the office lately, attempts to compensate for loss.

-Like Associate Art Director Sam Allen taking a dare to eat food out of the TW Surf department’s private editorial fridge (which is only safe for energy drinks and beer):

-Or Sam trying to stair shred down Creative Director Marc Hostetter’s office stairs on a Morey board during a late night deadline crunch… Or our brave Editorial Assistant Ryan Brower sitting in Editor and Chief Chris Cote’s chair naked, while enjoying some of his literature.

Like I said, it was all pretty pathetic. Things didn’t really work out.

Luckily, we all have next year’s Cali Rally to look forward to?and, of course, the awards part tonight. In the mean time, we’ll all just have to cope the best we can.