It's been a busy start to spring.
We started with a surprise skate session early in the week, when Sk8terdude's normal Tuesday afterschool activity was canceled at the last moment. Fortunately for him, we were just down the road from S.P.I.R.I.T. and, even more fortunately, Sk8terdad (who had the skateboard, helmet, and pads in his car) was able to meet us in the parking lot.
By Wednesday evening it was snowing here in Connecticut - again! - and Sk8terdude was convinced that the outdoor skate season, having just barely started, was going to be put on hold for another few weeks.
On Friday we managed to get in a second afternoon session, despite the cold, which kept me hunkered down in the car wishing for warmer weather. I realize that they are working up a sweat in the skatepark, but don't these skaters notice that it's still winter in the air, even if it's spring on the calendar???
Today we took a ride up to Enclave Skate Shop where we were well taken care of by Brendan, who couldn't have been nicer. Many thanks to Tony (the man behind the tweets at @enclavenewhaven, with whom I've been conducting an online conversation), who called ahead to let Brendan know we would be stopping by.
Sk8terdude chose a new Creature board and Brendan transfered the trucks and wheels from his old one for us. He also offered to teach Sk8terdude how to grip his own board, but between the razor blade and Sk8terdude's propensity for injury, I decided we weren't quite ready to tackle that on our own!
Heading home we decided on a detour to the skatepark at Jennings Beach in Fairfield. We've heard a lot about it but had never been there before. And it couldn't have been a better choice!
The skatepark is located to one side of the boat marina. On this gloriously beautiful but windy day, the view from the parent lounge included a strip of sandy beach and a fleet of sailboats just offshore....so despite the fact that I was, once again, hiding in my car to escape the cold, at least today I was able to look out at Long Island Sound and imagine that it was summer...when I won't be able to go to this skatepark because between Memorial Day and Labor Day the parking lot is for beach permit holders only!
The concrete skatepark was designed by Breaking Ground and features a continuous flow, complete with bowl, half-pipe, stairset, ramps, and the "humps" (is that the technical term?). Watching Sk8terdude's knees as he skated the "humps" reminded me of skiing moguls, which reminded me of winter, which made me feel even colder standing out in the wind...so after grabbing this very quick video, I bolted back into the car.
This evening we had one last taste of winter - with a quick trip back to the Danbury Ice Arena for an end-of-season party celebrating the Danbury Whalers and their amazing inaugural season. A few weeks ago I blogged about our exciting meetup with former (and future?) Whaler and skateboarder extraordinaire Mike Vallely. Tonight we finished the season with a trip to the Whalers' locker room, coming home with a trio of game-used sticks, signed by the team, which Sk8terdad had purchased earlier in the season as mementos for Sk8terdude, OlderBrother, and himself.
And tomorrow? I suspect Sk8terdude will be back at S.P.I.R.I.T., skating up a storm (but hopefully NOT another snowstorm!).
Totals for the week? Two trips to skate in Ridgefield, one new skate deck, one new skate park skated, one skating arena locker room visited...and one very tired parent desperately wishing for spring.
"View from the Parent Lounge" is a reflection on life as the parent of a skateboarder, typed mostly while waiting for him to skate at various skateparks, indoor and outdoor, throughout the country.
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