Category: Uncategorized

Blogging is Hard – and- Happy Thanksgiving!

by Don, posted in Uncategorized

It’s been a really long time since I posted ANYTHING. It’s no wonder, either. I’m on the fifth or sixth (more like twenty at this point) delete-and-start-overs for this post because I’m not sure what to write about. I even had to re-do the title a few times. It’s not for a lack of ideas, but for lack of believing that any of the things that come mind are actually worth writing about. More-so, that anything that I’d write is something that someone else would want to read about. I’ve racked my brain here tonight for a good little while, and came to the conclusion that I’ll simply re-state that I still wake up stoked and am thankful each and every day for my family and friends who continue to bless me beyond what I deserve. That is what I am thankful for again this year.

I am pretty sure that a blog post without a picture is simply NOT how you do it, so here’s a picture and an explanation of why I chose this one.

I noticed this plant growing besides the swing set as I was using the string trimmer. Among the green grass there was this brilliant purple flower that had it not been blooming I would have thought was just another weed to cut down. Instead, it was something extraordinarily nice that seemingly came out of nowhere. After several weeks, including a couple of frosts and the approach of winter when all the leaves are falling and all of the other flowering plants have died off with the exception of some hearty mums that like this time of year, this unknown plant from who knows where continues to brighten up that one spot in the yard. To me, it’s a random treat from nature and I appreciate it. I don’t yet know what kind of flower it is, but I did clip off a piece while leaving the rest hoping that it will either root in the glass or I can harvest some seeds and propagate them around the yard next year.

Skate Report 12/28/18

by Don, posted in Uncategorized

(The following is not instruction or advice, just a recollection of thoughts from my own experience as a topic of a story for entertainment purposes. I’m not a professional or anything close. Know this when visiting my site. Use your own judgment.)

Today I got to skate while the family was doing other things. First we were out with our relatives from out of town for lunch then we split into groups – some to shop, some to go to the local trampoline park, and me to the local indoor skate park for a sesh. (Indoor because it was raining and because it is such a cool spot. I’d like to blog-share about this spot in the future.) The plan was to regroup in an hour and a half, leaving me around forty-five minutes to work on a couple of things. In addition to a goal of just getting in a sesh, I hoped for a little while to take my mind off of the recent loss of our dog Lacey. I started out with just elbow and wrist pads, then moved to full gear after a little fail that reminded me that I really don’t want to tear up my knees now – or ever. Yep, I just mentioned protective equipment. I completely understand if you bail here cause you want no part of reading about pads and helmets. I don’t wear them every time, but being a geezer skater (in training for street style skating??), I’m conscious of protective gear more than ever, not so much for preventing the smaller pains or minor injuries that won’t be more than annoying and a reason to kick myself for not wearing it, but as a prevention from getting hurt bad enough on a slam that does one or more of the following:

  • Take me out of work to the point where bills and responsibilities are affected.
  • Be hurt to the point where I can’t skate.
  • Get in trouble with the wife and kids. The family tolerates my adventure and obsession with skating. They don’t really understand why somebody my age even thinks about skating, but they ‘let’ me do it anyway out of love because they think it makes me happy. I figure that they’ll let me keep doing it until I get hurt then they will get the chance to remind me of my age and responsibility.
  • (There’s probably a few more reasons that I can’t think of at the moment, so I’ll move on.)

About the sesh – I had with me the old-school cruiser, a wide board with wide trucks and 66 mil soft wheels that rolls soooo smooth, and a regular board with small, harder wheels that helped me learn last week to revert from fakie. I worked on transitions and pumping the bowl. Made some progress on both, including a rolling drop on the tall transition which I had not yet attempted on previous sesh’s at this park, which means I made it to a new goal. (If this blog keeps going, you’ll realize that I haven’t yet dropped in from the tail on the coping, but that day is not too far off. I’m sure that I’ll share the day that I do.)

Then it was time to head back with the car and collect up the family for the ride home. Except for the feeling of knowing that our little buddy would not be there to greet me at the door, I had the lingering good feeling resulting from a great day with family and a good sesh in the bag.

In a future blog I’ll share a bit about the good feeling that I get from skating and improving on something, even if ever so slightly.  Another intended blog will be about having set a plan to work on fundamentals with a focused mindset rather than with no goals in mind.

PS – Lemme know if anyone knows of a good set of pads to try. I.e. kind of like what you see in the old-school vert ramp videos. The ones that I use are OK, especially for where I’m at on the low end of the skill spectrum, but being a geezer having had it put in my head that I’m more brittle than I realize, I’d should invest in some good gear.