>> If good things come
to those who wait.
[surf crashes]
>> You've just got to be
really flexible.
>> Then Alex Marx and his buddy
Steen are in for quite a day.
[laughs]
>> You get that
extra sense of satisfaction,
'cause you waited
and put in your time.
>> You learn those lessons
when living your dream
means waiting on the weather.
>> Like I think we're under
a watch right now,
but it's just the fog
has really suppressed the surf.
>> And waiting on the waves.
>> I mean, if you're gonna surf
here, you just kind of have to
learn how to read, you know,
what the weather is gonna do.
>> He should know.
Alex has been surfing
around Sheboygan since he was
a freshman in high school.
>> Eight, nine years.
>> He still remembers
that first time.
>> It was right over there,
at first jetty.
On a day in the summer,
on this like,
crappy 9-foot board
that, you know, we acquired.
Gee, I think my brother
pushed me into my first wave,
and it was that.
It was like, I want that again.
>> On this day,
the weather eventually clears,
and the 41-degree water...
[surf crashes]
calls to Alex and Steen.
>> Of course,
when you surf in Lake Michigan,
even the best days
come with challenges.
>> Fresh water reacts different
than salt.
It's less buoyant,
because it doesn't have salt.
And it's just a weaker wave,
you know.
It's generated from less energy.
So, you've got to be
kind of geared up with
the right equipment, you know,
to have a good experience here.
>> In these waters,
you need thick skin,
sometimes two layers.
>> I really hate wet wetsuits.
There's a point
where it's just gets too cold.
Ice'll form on your person,
you know, too fast.
And the ice, you know,
if that shelf isn't too tall,
you know, it's a big hazard.
But it's pretty much dependent
on the ice.
If there's no ice,
we'll still do it.
>> Even when they have
the right temperatures,
surfers don't always have
free time.
>> I go with the flow.
College just sort of happened.
I'm going for an environmeal
geography degree.
>> Still, the surf
keeps pulling them back.
>> People just tend to learn
that we're not that reliable.
Like, at least in my family
circle, if I show up late
to Thanksgiving
because I was surfing,
no one's going to care.
Skip school, skip work,
skip people.
They know the drill.
>> It may sound extreme
for a hobby, which is why
Alex says his time on the lake
is much more than that.
>> Once you're in, you're not
getting out, because, you know,
it becomes part of you.
It's part of your life.
It's something you can't
just undo or stop doing.
>> There's, you know,
people that are 15
all the way up to 65, you know,
some of like the original guys.
They're still getting out here,
and then, you know, kind of
the newest generation.
There's nowhere else
you want to be.
There's nothing else
you're thinking of.
You're in that moment, and
you just want to keep grabbing
another one, and another one.
That's the life.
>> We want to know,
what's your Wisconsin Life ?
This week,
Maureen from La Crosse, sent us
"Springtime on the Mississippi."