An Excellent Reunion

After a full decade of neglect and misfortune, I was able to reunite and skate with one of my two best skate friends from childhood. His name is Gary and he suffered from a traumatic head injury several years back. This injury combined with my exodus from the area (in Idaho) kept us from hanging out or skating for nearly an entire decade. So with all that back story, I can honestly say that the reunion was quite inspiring.

The best part about the entire reunion was not just being able to reconnect with an old friend, but seeing someone who has struggled with a major head injury to take the risky, yet courageous step toward getting back on four wheels and enjoying his beloved hobby. 

I was really taken back by just how impressive Gary was on a board. Given the situation, I didn't realize how much of his balance and agility he was able to rekindle. I made a quick video of some of the tricks he was able to execute in the few hours we skated. 

Even with all the exciting skate trips that I was able to take this year to places like Kona and SPOT, this was undoubtedly the highlight of the year for me. While leaving the park, I felt not only nostalgic for the great experiences that I have had with Gary in the past, but with a sense of inspiration for the resilient human character embodied by my friend.

Slow Progression

      Lately I have found myself wanting to try some new tricks that I used to think too difficult or risky to try. In particular, after seeing how smooth smith grinds look, I decided it is time for me to step it up and learn them. The process has been slow and I still haven't quite got them yet, but I am slowly getting closer. One of my biggest setbacks was the rails situation. I don't like grinding rails very much. I used to 50-50 them, but ever since one really crazy incident (dislocated my traffic finger), just the sound of metal trucks on a metal rail kind of freaks me out. Ironically, I went back and 50-50'ed the rail that I got hurt on the next day wearing my stylish finger splint. Anyhow, what I really wanted was a box to try to learn smith's on, that way the falls are a bit more predictable and controlled. Since Tallahassee doesn't have any low or flat boxes to learn tricks on, I was pleased to skate my hometown skate park which does. It was also while I was there that I realized there were many box tricks that I have never filmed. I took the time to make a short video of these.

To my own surprise, I was able to pull off a few pseudo Smith grinds on the box. They certainly aren't pretty, but I am starting to get the motion and feel for the trick. I was super happy about this. 

Now that I'm back in Tallahassee, I knew I just needed to conquer the fear of rails, so that I can start trying the Smith on the one here. After over a month of looking and rolling up to the rail without popping, I finally committed to 5050'ing it. It seems such a small step, but I am finally starting to get more comfortable with grinds on it. The door is now open, so the next step is obviously the smith. Hopefully, I will have more to report back on this soon. Nevertheless, I am super happy about the progression, even if it is at a snails pace.