…… Nico, my youngest son who was home for summer break, went with us and shot the video of Avant’s fist lesson. Now to my recollection, Nico has never expressed any interest in riding any kind of board. Not skateboards, surfboards, or snowboards, much less a ripstik. Trying to take him snowboarding with his brother Dan and I, when he was a kid, was rimenisent of pulling teeth.
Apparently, while shooting Avant and I that evening, he decided to give it a try. Since then he has gone out many times with me (and I with him) to ride. Here is one such ride [….]. In watching Nico’s early riding, you may have noticed that familiar swerving motion that looks so funny. It’s familiar because Avant had it, I had it also when I first learned to ride. The sign of a true nube. 🙂
On anther occasion Nico asked a friend join us at the lake, which was a lot of fun. His friend even showed us a new way to mount the board. He apparently discovered it when trying to mount the board in a narrow space at the store. On another occasion, Nico took my board to a friends family picnic, where apparently they had a lot of fun with it. I can vouch for that based on all of the new scratches and things on it. Apparently, tho ridin OGce’s board, they were not ridin OGce Style.
Now when Avant returned home after that first lesson, I had him leave his new ripstik and equipment with me. i wanted him to think about it, to remember what it felt like. I also did not want him showing off to his buds to soon, before he learned to ride OGce Style. Because remember riding OGce Style is all about the ride.
A few weeks later, my eldest came down with the kids to visit before Nico had to return to school after break. This time when we went out, Avant rode his board, I rode mine, & Nico rode one of my other boards. Dan even got out and rode with us, for a few.
This was very magical and surreal to me. It was one of those special moments when we come together. Earlier in my life, one of my goals had been to sit on a mountain top with both of my sons. Having achieved that, while an unintended event, this to me, OGce, was that kind of moment.
All this happened during and after some especially trying times for each of us. Imagine my joy, playing with all my kids and grandchildren on cool summers nights on the coast, or in the Sierra foothills.
What better joy can an Old Man hope to gain from his foolishness?
Such has been my Foolishness, My Blessing!
~ Get Your Swerve on ~ Share your Foolish Blessings
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