Skating Through Life

The sound of rustling of leaves just off of the right side of the pavement caught my attention. When I turned to look, the sound had moved a short distance to my right. I couldn’t make out what was hiding behind the bushy pine tree. I bent down, leaned forward and caught a glimpse of the white of an eye. I moved slightly to my right and could see two big eyes.

Then I heard something lumbering through the trees to the left of the two eyes. I could distinguish the top of a head, about the same height as me. It looked as though it was limping, as it bobbed up and down between the low hanging tree branches. At that point I wasn’t sure if I should get out of there really fast or wait to confront whatever monster may be lurking.

The eyes moved toward the top of the head and I caught a glimpse of a white t-shirt. It was a little boy! And the lumbering head was his grandmother teetering over uneven ground. The little boy grabbed on to his grandmothers pant leg. I said, “Hello.” For a split second both of them just stared at me from head to toe. Then the grandmother said, “Those sure are interesting things on your feet.” The little boy, seeing that I wasn’t the monster that I thought he was, let go of his grandmother and moved a little closer to get a better look.

Now, I understood. Grandma and the little boy had never seen Land Rollers. I described that they are a more stable version of Roller Blades even though they each only have two wheels. The large back wheels are angled to create more thrust when I push off. The eight-time Olympic Speed Skating medalist Apolo Ohno demonstrates the skates in a video on the Land Roller website. I went on to explain that the wheels are very forgiving when I roll over uneven pavement or hit little rocks or debris in the road.

The little boy finally spoke, “I went ice skating yesterday. It was only the second time I’ve ever been and and and I was really good. I could skate to the center of the ice rink!” I told him he must be really good. As I skated off I was reminded how important it is for little kids, as well as big kids, to see and hear about new and different things.

Today’s gift was to take time out from rollerblading and talk to the little boy and his grandmother, instead of just continuing on my way. Who knows, maybe this little boy, inspired by what he had seen and heard, will one day be skating through life and become the next Apolo Ohno.

In Giving and Blading,

Robin