More Ojai skateboard park repairs
The last to days I have returned to the skateboard park, to give my friend Highlove a hand making repairs. Yesterday was delayed, as you might all ready know, but was still cool. When I got there, I handed Mark a smoothie that I'd made. It had blueberries, banana, apple, papaya and some fermented soy powder. I'd already consumed one. Consequently, we both were able to work continuously on the daunting task of repairing Ojai's skateboard park.
The quater-pipe received most of our attentions. 10 to 20 percent of it is rotting from standing water. Last year's torrential rains took a heavy toll on the various ramps. Mark is continually surprised at the degree of damage. My enjoyment at being able to contribute to the revitalization of the park is tempered my the tagging and littering that takes place. When I bring this up to Mark, he says, "There adolescents. Remeber how it was? They are like the most likely to die except for the elderly. It's a crazy time period." I have to think about this for a bit but I find myself agreeing with him and gaining some understanding. Yeah, it's getting harder to remember how intensely I felt everything when I was in my teens. 20 years ago... and the last 10 years of tai chi, yoga, chi gong and the didjeridoo have certainly mellowed me out a bit.
At one point today, a photographer from the Ojai Daily News stopped by to take our photos. The focus was mostly Highlove. He asked me my name and I responded: "Didj."
"What's your last name?" Tom Turner the photographer asked.
"You can just leave it as Didj," I say.
Later on, I here Mark having a conversation with a reporter. This is good news. The skateboard park needs some good publicity to help generate some funds. Without Highlove, the future of the park would be in jeopardy. He can skate, is great with kids and to top it off he is a great carpenter.
We've all been hearing a lot of talk about a cement park being built. I heard tonight, from Sean, that the plans have been drawn up and they have the land. The only thing keeping it from happening is that we need 200 grand to build it.
It seems to me, an impartial observer with limited knowledge of the various political and economic forces at play here. that if the kids can treat the park with more respect and show that they love it, then their chances for a cement park will dramatically increase.
Mark has been very cool in many ways. The last two days he has experimented with allowing kids to come in and skate after they pick up garbage. This has worked out quite well and may encourage use of the trash bins instead of the ground and cement creek. A couple of the kids have gone beyond. This one amazing skater, Mike spent 90 minutes painting today. He's legendary for being able to go up one of the ramps and jump a 8 foot fence out the park and into the parking lot. Xander has also contributed alot of his time to helping out. Xander won a state skateboard tournament this past summer. He's a great person, I used to take him surfing & climbing when he was younger.
Mark and I worked until dark and then took turns skating the mini half pipe. I am inspired to get a skateboard now and get on the ramp. It'll be great training for surfing.
The quater-pipe received most of our attentions. 10 to 20 percent of it is rotting from standing water. Last year's torrential rains took a heavy toll on the various ramps. Mark is continually surprised at the degree of damage. My enjoyment at being able to contribute to the revitalization of the park is tempered my the tagging and littering that takes place. When I bring this up to Mark, he says, "There adolescents. Remeber how it was? They are like the most likely to die except for the elderly. It's a crazy time period." I have to think about this for a bit but I find myself agreeing with him and gaining some understanding. Yeah, it's getting harder to remember how intensely I felt everything when I was in my teens. 20 years ago... and the last 10 years of tai chi, yoga, chi gong and the didjeridoo have certainly mellowed me out a bit.
At one point today, a photographer from the Ojai Daily News stopped by to take our photos. The focus was mostly Highlove. He asked me my name and I responded: "Didj."
"What's your last name?" Tom Turner the photographer asked.
"You can just leave it as Didj," I say.
Later on, I here Mark having a conversation with a reporter. This is good news. The skateboard park needs some good publicity to help generate some funds. Without Highlove, the future of the park would be in jeopardy. He can skate, is great with kids and to top it off he is a great carpenter.
We've all been hearing a lot of talk about a cement park being built. I heard tonight, from Sean, that the plans have been drawn up and they have the land. The only thing keeping it from happening is that we need 200 grand to build it.
It seems to me, an impartial observer with limited knowledge of the various political and economic forces at play here. that if the kids can treat the park with more respect and show that they love it, then their chances for a cement park will dramatically increase.
Mark has been very cool in many ways. The last two days he has experimented with allowing kids to come in and skate after they pick up garbage. This has worked out quite well and may encourage use of the trash bins instead of the ground and cement creek. A couple of the kids have gone beyond. This one amazing skater, Mike spent 90 minutes painting today. He's legendary for being able to go up one of the ramps and jump a 8 foot fence out the park and into the parking lot. Xander has also contributed alot of his time to helping out. Xander won a state skateboard tournament this past summer. He's a great person, I used to take him surfing & climbing when he was younger.
Mark and I worked until dark and then took turns skating the mini half pipe. I am inspired to get a skateboard now and get on the ramp. It'll be great training for surfing.
posted by Dij at 8:21 PM
2 waves:
hey didj - nice post and great contribution to the community. i mentioned it on my site. cheers! -tyler
Thanx Ty.
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