This memory did not take place at the Towson mall but near the less popular mall a few miles away. My mom still had to drive to drop me and my friends off around there so we could have a full day of skating parking lot after parking lot and suburban sprawl.
The parking lot was huge and someone found or brought with them a metal filing cabinet that we skated. This is one of my favorite memories of fall, an overcast sky with freshness in the air and skating for the day. It had to be the fall of 1991, my last fall in the Baltimore area. I had Salman Agah’s pro deck from Real which is easy to remember because the graphic was simply a rip off or spin off of the Camel cigarette iconic image. I remember vividly getting clean varial heelflips that felt smooth that day. Back then and even today I like tech skating, and there is always a feeling when you get what once was a difficult trick clean, it feels good to ride away smooth. When you stick a trick and do not tick-tac or pivot out of it is great. I remember that day not simply because of getting a trick, but this might have started my feeling that I really enjoy the fall season. High school was an adjustment, I bickered a lot with my friends, but I still noticed my physical environment. Fall didn’t have the oppressive heat, and you could were a hoodie, sweatshirt, or sweater and walk around comfortably. The other Baltimore memory I have of fall is for a Thanksgiving one year we drove to the DC area to spend the holiday with my Uncle and Aunt on my mom’s side of the family. The drove was scenic and enjoyable. I think that was when Thanksgiving became my favorite holiday as well. I enjoy a gathering over a meal as opposed to the gift giving aspect of Christmas.
In fall of 1992 I was new to Toledo. I didn’t have my license yet, and a few older skaters picked me up, and we skated all over the city. This was really cool, and it was the height of my baggy clothes phase. That fall I wore huge flannels, hoodies, and pants. I have to say those clothes are very comfortable. Even today I get the loose cut jeans, and I will not wear the skinny jeans even if I do lose the weight I want to. I’ve watched several skate videos over the years. In those videos you see a lot of hoodies and long sleeves. So people really do skate in the fall and winter. I think people are able to feel comfortable and have longer sessions when the weather is more temperate. The private high school I went in Toledo had trees around it, plenty of windows, and I felt aware of the seasons while there. Also when we moved to Toledo we took a lot of trips to a Detroit suburb to see my grandparents and uncle on my dad’s side. I enjoyed these trips and for some reason I always associate my grandparents’ old house with the fall season. We spent several holidays there, my granddad’s basement had a lot of his invention models in it, and the neighborhood was lined with trees. My parents’ neighborhood in a suburb of Toledo also has trees around it and a river nearby. In both of these neighborhoods we would go on family walks, and I’ve always associated fall with nature. This continued when I went to college at the University of Toledo in the fall of 1995. I remember walking across the tree lined campus, and noticed all the people dressed for the fall Also Kent state in fall of 2003 was very scenic.
Anyway I had a great session today at Forest Park, and I’m looking forward to this fall season.
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