Skating in a Functional Society

 

College Boy got a new skateboard recently. That happened quite frequently when he was growing up, and although I fully supported his love of the sport, all those past skateboard purchases didn't make me smile quite as much as this one, Why? Now that he's in his 20s, he's rarely skated over the past almost 10 years. It used to bring him so much joy, the culture, the friendships, the daring, the drive to almost defy physics, the challenge, the freedom.

 

Now back in the day, many parents discouraged, even forbid their kids from skating. Not me, I encouraged it. He loved it, spent his time outdoors and active. I got involved too, buying him books, taking he and his friends to skate parks, even got us all tickets one year to Tony Hawk's Boom Boom Huckjam.

 

I'm not going to say there weren't a few issues. Like his response to me telling him I did not want him plastering skateboard stickers in the house: 

 

 

 

Or the time I was changing out the trucks on one of his boards and a bolt popped off and hit the living room wall. Left a divot, which I can see to this day. 

 

And then there was the last day of elementary school, when he tail dropped his desk. Yes, of course there's photographic evidence. {{sigh}}. 

 

 

 

I tell you all of this as background to a story, the actual point I want to make today. About skateboarding, about life, and about being a member of a functional society.

But first, one more bit of background information:

 

When the boys were growing up, we were that house. You know the one, where all the kids congregate after school and on weekends. They all knew there'd be a snack (of course), supervision, and at dinner time there would either be a ride home or a seat at the table. 

 

Raspberry Lime Refrigerator Bars (no bake)

 

 

It was on one of those afternoons, school was out and kids were playing all around in and out of the house. College Boy came in and he was pretty upset. He had been skating with friends out front, was doing an ollie when his skateboard went down the drain.

Down the drain? What does that mean? I went out front to see his friends standing around looking. At the sewer drain.

 

And to make matters worse . . . there was this:

 

 

 

Drains to waterways. That has to be bad. I knew he loved his skateboard, personally designed and broken in. Yes, they can be replaced, but only when you're ready, and even then, you hold onto the old ones. They represent newly learned tricks, newly explored parks.

But it was gone, and I couldn't do anything about it. Until someone realized that it wasn't quite gone, not completely. Looking through a hole in the manhole cover you could see it, sitting on a ledge.

That's when it all began. The retrieval mission. Kids from inside and behind the house came to see what was going on. A neighbor, in middle school at the time came out to see what the commotion was all about. He got his dad, who started looking for something use to pry the manhole cover up. But it was stuck. Someone suggested a sledge hammer might loosen the edges of the manhole cover.

People started gathering, coming from up and down the street. Parents were coming outside, cars were even stopping. Kids whose parents came to pick them up were refusing to leave. There were suggestions, new things to try, encouragement and support.

I had actually gone into the house and was coming back out when I heard clapping, and a cheer. The young neighbor had laid down on the ground by the thin opening to the drain, had someone holding his feet as he slithered halfway into the drain and eventually stretched far enough to get his hands on the skateboard.

 

 

Everyone there that day knew that as inconsequential as a skateboard may be, it was not inconsequential to the skateboarder.

Even in what we may personally consider the least significant of circumstances, in a functional society, even in this microcosm of one, there are others to consider, and there roles to play. And in order to be successful, the role we might normally take on, specific to the situation, may need to change.

I know that I have been the good samaritan, I have been the suggester, the supporter, and I've been that skateboarder. And there have even been times when I've been the skateboard, feeling like I was down the drain and headed for the waterway.

Not only am I glad to see my son once again gliding down the road, but I'm grateful to have been reminded of that afternoon so long ago, when a whole bunch of people came together, took on a role, and played a part, all just to help a kid who'd lost his skateboard.

 

 

Raspberry Limeade Refrigerator Bars        

                                                                                      ©www.BakingInATornado.com

Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
1 box cinnamon graham crackers

8 oz frozen raspberries

1 (8 oz) block cream cheese, softened

6 oz raspberry yogurt

1 TBSP sweetened lime juice

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 packet (.1 oz) limeade drink mix powder

1 tsp lime zest

Directions:
*Lightly grease a 9 X 13 baking dish. Arrange 9 of the cinnamon graham crackers in a single layer into the bottom of the dish, break the crackers as needed to cover the bottom.

*Cut 8 of the raspberries in half and store in the freezer for garnish. Coarsely chop the remaining raspberries so you have pieces of all different sizes.

*Beat together the cream cheese, yogurt, and lime juice. Set aside.

*In a separate bowl, beat the heavy cream until soft peaks form. Add the powdered sugar, limeade powder, and lime zest. Beat until stiff peaks hold. Fold the whipped cream mixture into the cream cheese mixture, then fold in the raspberry pieces.

*Spread about 1/3 of the filling mixture evenly onto the graham crackers in the dish. Top with another layer of 9 cinnamon graham crackers, another 1/3 of the filling mixture, the last 9 graham crackers, and the last of the filling mix.

*Cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 hours.

*To serve, slice and top each slice with a frozen raspberry half.