Curve Ball...

Every now and then life throws you a wicked curve ball... For me, May 1st, 2009, was one of those moments. My mom had an aneurysm that led to a massive stroke and she ended up passing away on the morning of Mother's Day. Needless to say lots of emotions have come and gone and will continue to do so for quite awhile. Although mom is now finally reunited with dad there is still so much I would have liked to tell her...

Blaylock Pl.

Huntington Beach, CA 1974-1983

Tucked away behind a Car Wash, Car Rental lot, a bank and Taco Bell is Blaylock Pl. Comprised of single story 3 and 4 bedroom modest homes, owned by middle class families, it was a neighborhood that worked hard and played hard. It was also a very close community of families that grew up together.

With all of the older kids riding BMX, skateboarding, and surfing it was only natural that we would follow in their foot steps. Our days were spent riding our bikes or boards and repairing, tweaking, or otherwise just altering our equipment in someone's garage while blaring the music of the day. Our soundtrack consisted of Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Alice Cooper, Aerosmith, Rush, Deep Purple, Thin Lizzy, you get the picture. We had a great time learning how to fine tune and repair our equipment while developing our musical tastes and hanging out.

Once our boards were tuned it was off to either skate the bank or head over to "Lobster Point" to ride the embankment that ran along the drainage ditch next to Red Lobster. Our boards were our transportation as well as our entertainment...

Northstar

Northstar @ Tahoe, CA

Today was a perfect Spring Day to board! Lots of sun, still lots of snow, and plenty of open runs. The unfortunate aspect of Spring Boardin' is the morning ice and afternoon slush. The "in between" period today however, was excellent! The runs up near the Rendezvous lift were perfectly chopped up to allow a smokin' shot down without the ice slide. What a rush! It was a blast to spend the day getting in some runs with EB for the first time in 3 years. If the snow can fight off the heat a little longer we just might get in another trip before the season ends. Then again, it was 80 when we hit Roseville...

State!

Sacramento, CA March 21, 2009

Ocean View is playing in the CIF State Finals! Shane and I met up with Mark McGregor and his boys at Arco Arena for the game. Before tip off Coach Harris was up in the stands so we chatted a bit and I got a great picture of he and Shane. The man just keeps on winning...

OV got off to a slow start and fell behind early. The Seahawks were down 12-1 at one point. It's hard to make up big deficits when you only play 8 minute quarters. They finally got on track and went in still down by 11 at the half. I got a picture of Shane with the OV Cheerleaders during the break.

Third Quarter was more of the same as Sacred Heart had us in foul trouble most of the game. Starting to really struggle, we went into the 4th down by 17.

The Fourth Quarter was a different story as we made a big run and closed to within 6 with 1:21 to play. Unfortunately that was as close as we got and Coach's first trip to State ended as a runner up. With only one Senior starter they have a great shot to be back next year...

All in all a great day and it was fun to catch up with some people I hadn't seen in 27 years.

Speed Wobble

Huntington Beach, CA 1985

During the day Central Park was a mostly dried up lake with some rolling hills and lots of trees. After dark however, the asphalt path that snakes through the park seemed much narrower and a lot steeper. This was a perfect gathering place to hang out at night and race each other down the hills on our skateboards. The trick was to see who could make it to the bottom of the hill and be able turn and stop without heading into the lake. Sounds simple enough, right? Should be, but the degree of difficulty went up by having 4-6 people heading down the hill at the same time. The beauty of this was trying to make it without getting speed wobble, being "nudged" off into the grass at high speed, or running over someone who spun out in front of you. It was always entertaining to try and run in the air, when your board came to an immediate halt after careening off the side, to avoid the inevitable "grass burn" that was coming. Of course this never worked, but a "grass burn" was always better than picking the pebbles out of your "road rash". Good times!

Vacation

Truckee, CA.
I am surprised at the lack of snow here. There have been plenty of recent storms but the snow level has been around 7,000 feet. Luckily Northstar is above that. Oh well, big storm coming tomorrow so we should get dumped on for next week :)

Joanne did 10 miles today so I tagged along for 4 and then headed straight to the jacuzzi. That was enough for me today. Kendra did 4 miles as well.

I almost forgot... Shane beat me at chess yesterday.

Pray for snow!

Cottage Cheese, ugh!

Huntington Beach, Summer 1984...

There was almost no wind and the surf was running about 3 feet. Excited as I ran into the Liquor store on PCH, I had visions of workable lefts running through my head. As usual I would fuel up with my standard fare of chocolate milk and 2 packs of mini chocolate donuts. After making my purchase I quickly bolted out the door ready to go! Since there was no time to waste I popped open my milk and took a big chug while crossing the street. Imagine my surprise when a lump of cottage cheese hit the back of my throat! As I gagged to the enjoyment of the drivers waiting at the light I glanced at the expiration date which, of course, was about a week ago...

A few minutes later I was in the water and all was right in the world.