002 Who Am I or, Who I Am? Part One: The Seed 
(1) (2) (page 3) I eventually discovered a skate shop in town named Bill's Wheels & that is where I also met employees like John Pessetti, Art Ruiz, Aric "Pear" Southard, Jon Jochens & of course, Mr. Ackerman himself. Many more stories of those days to come at a later time. I lived next to North Salinas High School & at times we were allowed to go over there & skate & I will never forget the first day of Spring Break in 8th grade, I broke my leg trying to 180 off of the 3 stair. The doctor said that I had fractured it in a spiral & that it was going to take some time to heal. This put all skateboarding on hold for me & video games & television became the priority as far as recreational activities were concerned. Sure Doc you want to give me pills too? Ok? Many, many years of learning shit the hard way. A year had passed & I never considered getting back into skating. I figured fool me once, shame on me, right? Many changes had occurred over this time, not only had the family moved into a new house in a new area of Salinas; I was also a freshmen in high school, plus a new baby brother was on the way! It wasn't until the summer of my freshman year, at the age of 15, that my love for skateboarding was born again. Funny to me how things fall into place sometimes. You notice something is there, but don't consider it, until later when it becomes a crucial part of everything. Let me explain. I mentioned we moved into a new house earlier & one of the first things I noticed was a long curb in front of the house that was perfect for skating. There was also a gap on the side of the apartment complex. One day, I was bored watching some bullshit television show & I heard somebody outside skating, so I opened the door & looked. There was a kid about 13 years old, with long hair past his shoulders skating the curb & doing flatground tricks. I'd never met him, so I introduced myself & he told me that his name was Jesse & that he lived in Castroville & was visiting family that lived a few houses down from me. I watched him skate that day & knew immediately in my mind, that for whatever reason it was that I was not skating any more was bull, shit. Over time we would roll around the town & skate & he would show me tricks he could do at spots & vice versa. I started getting more back into touch with the scene & what skateboarding was all about at that time & it made me realize; that skateboarding was the best thing in the world. Not only is skateboarding the best thing in the world, it can be one of the purest things you have in this world, because it doesn't only amaze the viewer; you yourself are amazed in what you are perceiving & achieving. You really can learn a lot about life from skateboarding. Even as I reflect on all this, I still learn something & it becomes clearer to me that these are my roots as a skateboarder. When I was a kid, skateboarding wasn't pushed in my face, especially for money, skateboarding was hardly socially accepted & yet, skateboarding found & intrigued me every time. The parents didn't understand it, but we loved it. (1) (2) (page 3) (Next Post)

2018  saladsk8.com | Salad Days Skateboard Co. | The Salad Bowl