In high school woodshop I built a quarter pipe but never skated a half pipe. I knew some older kids that had a massive one near me and after churck I\’d ask my parents to drive buy it, knowing there\’s no way they\’d be awake and skating that early on a Sunday.  I was wrong, there they were and my parents came to a full stop in the street…I was mortified.  They were these kids that knew about pot and smoked cigarettes and there I was coming home from church with my parents. Oh my God I wished I was 3 inches tall that day.  They waved and said, \”Hey Forrest!\”.  Even worse, they knew who I was.  I was too young, too square, and too bad of a skater to even hang out with them.  I had cheap boards from Sears and pads my parents made me wear, I still loved it though.  The complexity of tricks, the imagery, the stars, the video tape compliations, the gear. I never got good and it slowly faded away but it\’s still cool to me.

This week walking around the neighborhood some kids were on a halfpipe they built in there driveway.  A chunky kid with his shirt off was skating it hard, and he was good. The self confidence he had while my young son stared made me smile. Maybe I should buy a board and teach my son to skate.  Why not?  I don\’t have to be good, I just have to have fun. – Forrest