Thyme

Growing up as a kid in the suburbs of the 612 my family and I 

lived at the end of a sleepy dead end street.. 

By the time I was in forth grade the city had come and turned it into a cul de sac..

This was also about the time in my life that I got my first skateboard.

At first I did not realize the potential of pavement and all the surrounding developments in the area.

As the years went by me and neighborhood attempted to  build a few half pipes in the back yard of

one of their houses,, but the empty void of a circle just sat there with nothing in it. 

The backyard wooden giants came and went and a new movement was being seen in the 

movies that once a year we got to see in our VHS players.

Street Skating..

Launch ramps and fun Boxes,, rail Slides and quarter Pipes were all the rage.

At this time in the world their were no skate parks especially in  the burbs.

We were motivated to build and create what we were seeing going on in California.

This building and skating went on for years,,, no one ever asked where all the wood came from and so we continued to build and build and since no one lived around the circle of pavement it was all ours..

That was until one day in 89 riding the bus home with some kids from other hoods that were coming over to shred my little skatetopia.

As we got to the end of the street we found every single bit of wood was gone not even a splinter was left. 

The city had come and removed all of the ramps and rail slides... not because all the wood was bowed from all the homes being built in the area,,, No

they came and threw my playground away because of liability..

We were told that if someone fell and got hurt that the city could be sued and that 

would not be a good thing for them..

These days there are parks everywhere.. Every Town has at least one..

And the silly little burb that took all my fun away

has built a sk8 plaza

and encourages kids to ride and slide.

 Being a old man and coming out of a twenty some year retirement of  

 has been a ton of fun.

I am taking my lumps but that is part of the game..

The time that I get to spend with 

my son is priceless and the experiences that he is getting to have 

even better.

So bring on the fun 

Skate Or Die