Back To The Future
Sometimes inspiration comes from a place you once were, but can never go back to.
I gave Logan a fresh skate deck for Christmas last year, however Logan still had those little kid qualities about him so I constantly reminded him, if I ever found that deck sitting in the rain or left uncared for, I would break it. Fortunately, it never came to that as the deck sat in the corner of his living room unused for the next eight months. Then one day this past summer, his mom asked me what she needed to get the board rolling.
Logan took his new deck and hasn’t looked back. He’s showed genuine interest in learning how to skate and at the same time leaving the art of sitting on a skateboard and riding down a hill behind. Don’t get me wrong, sitting on a skateboard and blasting down the driveway has its attributes, but in my eyes learning how to skateboard is much more than that. It’s like a graduation process, you know, like training wheels on a bike. Logan went step by step at the skate park. First he started on the smallest transition and by the end of the summer Logan was dropping into transitions, which shook him to his core in previous attempts.
Recently, my little buddy came down to Victoria for the weekend. He’s grown taller and cockier since the last time we hung out, however it’s to be expected from a 12 year old. Logan’s main goal for this visit is skateboarding as much as possible. The weather cooperates on Friday afternoon and Logan continues to excel, learning new trick after new trick and not being happy with landing a trick once. The trick must be landed again and again before moving on. He wants to bomb the hill one more time before the sunsets and I’m not going to argue with that.
The following morning the rain falls with no chance of drying up. Logan is growing restless but knows I won’t let him ride his board in the rain, so the carport becomes his new training ground. Believe me, when you’re just starting to skate, landing a trick anywhere is rewarding. I’ve spent many hours in a small carport practicing tricks waiting for the rain to stop.
The following day is Sunday, which means Logan is heading home, but the weather doesn’t cooperate leading me to break all my rules of keeping a skateboard solid. Logan is dying to skate, so we hit a school even though the ground is wet, Logan blasts a couple of ollies over the laid out obstacle, a line in this case. The first time Logan actually gets the whole board off the ground and clears the line, his whole face if not body lights up. After letting him ride his beautiful skateboard in the rain for an hour it’s time to move on.
Logan hits the road and I head home as well. After flipping through a few pictures I took over the weekend, I begin to think of the way I felt landing my first ollie or bombing a hill standing up. I realize I can’t go back, however I know exactly where Logan’s heart is right now. Skateboarding brought me great joy and great friends along the way. I cherish every day I have skated and every day I will skate. It’s a sport with no barriers. One day I’d go session with Kyle, Morgan and Johnny and the next it’s Rick, Dan and Sean. The relationships are the same. We were there to skate and that was the common interest. Unlike organized sports your “teammates” are different every day. I can only hope Logan will allow my old bones to skate with him as the years go by.
Story and Photos Greg Miller
love this Greg!
Love the story.
SKATE or DIE!!!