odin has had a skateboard for many years, and while he’s jumped on it from time to time it’s never really captured his attention the way his ripstik has, mostly i think because many of his friends and cousins have ripstiks.

he’s known that i used to skate a looooooooong time ago but hasn’t ever asked me to teach him to skate and i’m certainly not interested in pushing it on him. i figured someday he might ask and if he did i’d be happy to show him a thing or two.

recently he decided he wanted to order a pair of vans for back to school shoes. i thought it was curious, since he’s never shown an interest in wearing his poppi’s favorite brand of skating shoes ( yes, i still wear vans even though i haven’t skated in years. i like the brand and genuinely think they are some of the most comfortable and durable shoes around ). i wondered if there was something more to his choice and, sure enough, when they arrived he asked if i’d show him some basic moves and tricks.

much to my suprise, i jumped on his board ( my first time on a deck in well over a decade ) and showed him how to push off, tic-tac ( move the front of the board back and forth to gain momentum ), do a 180 shove-it a little ollie and a backside nose stall on the curb. i’m not sure who was more impressed that i didn’t hurt myself – him or me 🙂

i’ve actually been thinking about starting skating again for a long time. i used to love skating but stopped in my early 20s because of a bum knee from the cumulative toll from a car accident ( not wearing my seat belt! dumb! don’t do that! ) and skating injuries. in my early 30s when i started training for marathons i learned i could cure my bum knee with physical therapy. but then i stopped running marathons, gained a bunch of weight because i kept eating like i was still running marathons and started to feel like i was too old and out of shape to skate.

now that i’ve lost 110 pounds and am in better shape that i ever was in my 20s, i wonder about picking it up again in a low-key way. odin asking me to teach him a few things is all the excuse i need.

so who knows, maybe i will do boardslides while wearing sunglasses after dark once again. only this time, with odin.