Eastern Pulse, Milford, CT

Many thanks to the skater's grandmother we met in Rhode Island yesterday, who told us about Eastern Pulse, an indoor skatepark in Milford, Connecticut.  Sk8terdad took Sk8terdude there this afternoon, since I was skateparked out and busy with OlderBrother, who needed to finish collecting data for his (required) school science fair project.

And many thanks also to Sk8terdad, who dutifully took photos and reported back with details.

The park is about 6500 square feet, smaller than some, but a fun skate (reports Sk8terdude).  According to their website, the park "features 5' kidney shaped pool, mini ramp, rails, wallrides, rollers, hips, boxes, and pyramids."  Not bad for a Sunday afternoon.

The "parent lounge," on the other hand, leaves a little something to be desired...

Less of a lounge and more of a loft above the skatepark, the word on the street (or, in this case, the text message from Sk8terdad's iPhone) was that the lounge was cold and a little lacking in some standard amenities.  Neither of the two televisions were working although Sk8terdad was able to access the internet through the park's wifi.  And there's only one bathroom for everyone at the park, which Sk8terdad reports was really dirty, which might explain why there were no moms in sight.

Of course, if you're a teenager, you might find that the lounge is exactly what you're looking for, as it did boast an air hockey table, a foosball table, and a great view of the giant skull painted on the far wall.

Sk8terdude put in about two hours at Eastern Pulse, which may be our go-to place for the remainder of the winter, with Haven reporting on Facebook that they may be closed until the end of April.  Although Eastern Pulse is smaller than Drop In, it's considerably closer to home.

Meanwhile, the weather report is for warmer temperatures over the next ten days.  Maybe the snow will melt and the outdoor parks will be able to open before March ends...

Balancing Act

I remember watching Sk8terdude learn to do an axle stall (here's a how-to video for us non-skating parents:  how to do an axle stall).  He was practicing on a half-pipe, trying to nail the 90 degree turn at the top so his board would balance on the coping before taking another 90 degree turn to skate back down the pipe.  The first time he got it right it took him by surprise, and before he could really register that he was successfully perched at the top, he was already zipping down and up to the other side.  After that first success, there were quite a few misses before he could routinely get an axle stall correct, and then it took longer still before his "muscle memory" kicked in and he was able to do an axle stall each time he tried, almost without thinking.

In that brief pause, when the board stops, just for a split second, before he turns and drops back down the ramp, I am reminded how much of a balancing act skateboarding really is.  And it's as much a balancing act for me as a parent as it is for him as a skater.

With indoor skating such an ordeal this winter, how do I balance his need to skate with the needs of the rest of our family?  Both boys have basketball on Saturdays, which only leaves one day each week when he could reasonably expect to skate.  Do I devote EVERY Sunday to a skatepark trip?  Of course, Sk8terdude would say yes...but this past weekend we had to say no to skating.

Saturday night Sk8terdude was invited to watch the Harlem Globetrotters as a celebration for a friend's birthday, which meant it was already a late night out.  We had tickets for Sunday night's Danbury Whalers game against the New York Aviators at 5 p.m.  Somehow I couldn't see adding a trip to Drop In Skatepark on top of everything else we (he) had going on.  He wasn't happy, but he survived.

At his age, Sk8terdude sometimes still has trouble understanding why we can't just do all the things he wants to do.  For me, it's a non-stop challenge:  trying to find a way to meet everyone's needs, including my own.  (This weekend that meant that OlderBrother had a group of friends over for an evening of xbox while Sk8terdude was at the Globetrotters.)  The boys usually want to go in different directions, and Sk8terdad and I don't always want to go along for the ride.  Some weekends are easier than others.

But every once in awhile, the stars align, everyone is happy, and, for a moment at least, I get that split second where everything stops, and I'm balanced perfectly on top of the coping, and I can look around and take a breath, before I plummet back down the half-pipe to the other side.

Missing warm weather...

Here's an old photo of Sk8terdude - in warmer weather!  I remember the day this photo was taken was particularly hot and humid...right now that doesn't seem so bad (although I promise to complain about the heat this summer).  When I drove OlderBrother to the bus this morning, the thermometer in the car was registering a cool 3 degrees Fahrenheit.  Brrr!

The continued deep freeze makes it hard for us to believe that outdoor skateboarding could be only a month away.  After all, our driveway still has snowbanks that resemble icebergs both in terms of size and texture, so I can't imagine the skatepark looks any better.  (I guess I could drive past and see...)  And local indoor skateboarding also eludes us.  The latest entry on the Haven website says that they will be closed through the end of February for roof repairs - and possibly longer.  So for us that means either another long trip to Drop In or an even longer drive to Garden Skate in New Jersey (which only makes sense if you know that I have friends and family nearby).

This post would be longer if my fingers weren't frozen.  Have you seen the price of heating oil?  (That's a whole 'nother subject...)

Odds and Ends...

I just broke the news to Sk8terdude that our school district has decided to cancel the February vacation due to all the snow days we've had this year.  He was NOT happy (and that's an understatement).  Sk8terdad and I discussed the options and decided that Sk8terdude needs the long-promised road trip to the indoor skatepark more than one additional day in school, so we're going to cut our road trip down to one park over a long weekend and let him miss one of the make-up days.  Looks like Rhode Island is our destination...which means he'll be enjoying the morning skate clinic at Greenside Skatepark one day and competing in the Elemental Awareness Make It Count contest the next.  He's looking forward to meeting pros Levi Brown (the skater, not the football player!) and Donny Barley.  And now that I've looked more carefully at the website, I guess we're both looking forward to Mexican food for dinner the night before (since pre-registration apparently takes place at the nearest Chipotle Mexican Grill).

In happier news, the 2011 opening weekend of Graham Dickinson S.P.I.R.I.T. Skate Park in Ridgefield, CT is scheduled for March 12-13, with free skating planned for all.  Of course, if the crazy weather continues, we may be watching snowboarding on the ramps instead of skating...only time will tell!  Sk8terdude pointed out today that if the skate park was opening in four weeks then he was only a month away from getting a phone (I told you once he gets an idea in his head, he can't let it go).  But he graciously conceded that perhaps the phone wouldn't actually arrive on opening day, since he couldn't be at the skate park AND shopping for the phone at the same time.

No...I haven't yet broken the news to OlderBrother...

Meanwhile, Sk8terdude is angling for a return trip to Drop In this weekend.  I need a convincing argument to get Sk8terdad to agree that it's HIS turn to sit in the parent lounge.  Any ideas?

First and Foremost

I'm diving in to the blogosphere...or maybe I should say that I'm taking my first "drop in" into the world of blogging and I'm hoping to drop in from the parent lounge whenever I take my son, Sk8terdude, to different skateparks around the country.

A drop-in, for those of you who don't skate (or don't have kids who skate), starts with the skater perched over the edge of a quarter- or half-pipe.  The skater puts his/her weight on the back of the board, back wheels against the downward slope, the front of the board suspended in mid-air.  Slamming the front foot down onto the board (and, hence, the board onto the slope), the skater drops onto the pipe and skates.

Here's a youtube video that shows exactly how to drop in on a skateboard (parents, don't try this at home!).  And, no, that's NOT Sk8terdude.  He's in the photo at the top of this blog.

It's an apt metaphor.  Sitting in front of the screen, I do feel like I'm suspended in mid-air.  If I succeed, plenty of skateboarding parents will find and read this blog.  And if no one finds it, reads it, and enjoys it, well, then I guess I'm the skater who failed miserably and landed on my rear.

-----------

Today is February 6th and I'm writing from the parent lounge at Drop In Skatepark in Hillburn, New York.  If you've never heard of Hillburn before this, join the club.  It's located near (in?) Suffern - at the northern New Jersey border where it meets New York.  Like so many others, this skatepark is warehoused in an industrial park near a highway - not exactly a tourist destination - and it is colder and dingier inside than most.  This is our second trip to Drop In, more than an hour from our Connecticut home, but our former winter favorite, Vertigo Skatepark in Brookfield, Connecticut, closed its doors for good a few months ago.  Today our choices were limited:  drive here and skate for the afternoon, or wait until evening and skate in North Haven.  Since tomorrow's a school day for Sk8terdude, the trip to Hillburn won the toss based on time slot.  I didn't want him to begin skating at 4:30 p.m. and at Haven the BMX bikers rule the park on Sunday afternoons.

The parent lounge here is larger than most.  Painted an interesting shade of green, with bright blue trim, it holds a motley collection of discarded sofas, tables, and armchairs, a dirty carpet, and a television which seems to be set permanently on "1000 Ways to Die."  In other words, a decorating choice based primarily on what would appeal most to a group of teenage boys.  The promised free-wifi is not working properly.  Fortunately for me a skater-dad (not to be confused with Sk8terdad, the father of Sk8terdude, who managed to avoid this trip by volunteering to stay home with OlderBrother) graciously allowed me to join an ad hoc network he created by tethering his laptop to his iPhone.  (Okay, I don't really know what that means, except that thanks to him I have internet access!)

The highlight of my first trip to Drop In (and yes, this is tongue-in-cheek) had to be the bathroom.  Most skatepark bathrooms are, well, nasty.  Let's face it - a bunch of sweaty (mostly) boys racing in and out of the bathroom doesn't lend itself to sparkling clean.  Some skateparks have a second bathroom for women or for parents.  At Drop In, the guy at the front desk was nice enough to offer me the use of the employee bathroom....and then he apologized for the soft-porn decorations on the walls!  It was certainly eye-opening...not sure if I'll revisit the experience this time around.

One of the nicer (for real) features at Drop In  are the three large windows (6' x 3' or so) that look out over the park.  Except for one small corner in the back, most of the park floor is visible from the windows, so parents can keep an eye on younger skaters.  The park is set up like a street course - ramps, rails, stair sets, etc. - with no bowl.  During the skate session the park is a mix of skateboarders, inline skaters, and scooters.  Most of the skaters are teens or older.  Sk8terdude is one of the younger boys out there today.

BTW - Sk8terdude is skating on a Creature board with hollow Thunder trucks and Speed Demons wheels.  He's in DC shoes.  He thinks he looks pretty darn awesome!  (Of course, I agree.)

On the television, we've just reached "way to die #435" and I'm wondering if dying of boredom in a skatepark parent lounge is one of the 434 they haven't yet covered....

Guess that's my cue to end this post.

Next stop - either Skater's Edge in Taunton, MA or Greenside Skatepark in Middletown, RI.  I've promised Sk8terdude a road trip during February break, and the Elemental Awareness tour will be in RI that week, so we're debating the pros and cons of both trips...

[postscript:  After I logged off my laptop but before we left Drop In, I decided to use the bathroom.  After all, it's a long ride home!  I was pleasantly surprised to note that there is a new staff restroom and it does not include the previous wall-candy.  It may not have been clean, but at least it wasn't "dirty" - if you get my drift!  And for those of you who read the earlier paragraph and immediately decided that therefore Drop In would have to be on your to-do list, I guess you'll have to bring your own "reading material."  I hear the articles in Playboy are quite well-written...]