skate or die

we were at our favorite family beach in encinitas over spring break.  this sign painted near the sand, reminded me of the younger days i spent drooling over tony hawk and the bones brigade.  my friends would recite their favorite mantra, "skating is not a crime," when someone asked them to stop.  they would spend their summers building half pipes and ramps.  skating to the mall.  drinking kool aid, eating popsicles.  life seemed so simple.  california seemed like the answer to it all.  land locked colorado was so behind the times.  i watched the movie north shore every. single. day. i thought about them.  the boys who aspired to be sponsored by a skate or surf company.  the cute boys.  who noticed me, with my nose in a book, never.   

one day i talked to him.  tony hawk.  i was twelve. he was so shy but amazingly talented at his art.  i could see how he put it all out there.  created the new tricks everyone was talking about.  how second nature it was to him.  he didn't aspire to be, he just was.  now he's a dude to look up to for different reasons.  a family man, role model type.  at twelve, there was nothing to think of past the book i was reading and the skaters riding by on their way to the mall.  now i talk to those boys about our families and remember the old days. and realize california doesn't have it all figured out. maybe colorado doesn't either.  life is silly, eh?