Learning curve...

... is not the only thing that is steep.

I am learning to skateboard. I never did it as a kid because I wasn't all that good and I lived on a dirt road - it wasn't easy to find a road to skate on. Now I'm in a paved city using long boards which are easy and fun (I am using "easy" very liberally here).

When I was teaching kids how to ski the very first thing we would teach is how to stop. I haven't learned to stop on the skateboard yet... I don't even know if there is a good way.

So, I was on my way home the other day and I was doing pretty well on the board. Then I started going fast. Wow. I went fast. It was great... until I noticed that at the bottom of the hill there was a four lane boulevard... the cars were crossing the boulevard at quite speedarifically. I thought to myself, "Myself, you had better try and stop this board". I tried. I failed... in my failing I tumbled in a nice somersault on the asphalt.

I immediately stood up to watch the skateboard continue down the hill towards the four lanes of speeding traffic. It made it through the first two lanes and then hit the divider and slowed. It crossed the next two lanes and went up the ramp onto the sidewalk. Then it slid back down the sidewalk back onto the road. A car swerved. It came to a near stop in the first lane and drifted to the curb.

It survived. I survived. I have a sprained wrist and a banged up knee. I will survive... and probably will buy a skateboard soon.

and wrist guards. Definitely wrist guards.