janky stuff

I felt the temps creeping into the forties,
Took the 4-year-old outside to get some air,
Went to the skatepark to have a look around,
Street area almost skateable, bowls covered in snow.
E started running around, sliding on his butt,
Runs up the tranny pulling himself up,
Is it four feet or five,
I can never quite tell exactly how high.
We found a plastic tray stolen from McDonald’s
Tried cleaning up the beginner’s area,
Snow on top was slushy and loose,
But the ice underneath didn’t budge.
I was hoping the tennis court was dry,
So he could practice rolling on flat ground,
But everything was under snow,
Told E we’d be back soon.
Headed back home a little blue,
But optimistic about the upcoming thaw,
Temps near fifty toward the end of the week,
Will have to wait for everything to dry up.
We started out shoveling snow at home,
Chopping at the stubborn ice in the driveway.
Next was the garage, stuffed to the rafters,
Final resting place for all the household discards;
broken toys, a couch, appliances, rugs;
we starting moving and organizing.
In the middle of that, E found a box of nails,
Asked me if we could build something,
I ended up pulling out an old dresser,
Took out the drawers and reinforced with 2x4’s,
Pulled some 1-inch, ½ inch plywood stacked in the back.
Next we found bricks and cinder blocks,
Threw everything together,
A bit janky but rideable just the same,
E had his Tony Hawk action figure try it out.
Toy Tony gave it the thumbs up,
So away I went, kickturning and fakies,
E riding on his butt, laughing and giggling,
Couldn’t wait, so excited, kids were still in school.
E told them we had a surprise for them,
Told me not to tell them, wanted them to see,
But poor boy was so tired, fell asleep,
After picking both of them up.
Z-man and I kept adjusting, raising and lowering,
Swapped out the plywood a couple of times,
Tried it behind the house, tried it in the street,
Moved it back into the garage and skated some more.
It’s awfully small maybe too much so,
I feel twice, landing on my wrists,
Make that thrice, landed on my shoulder also,
Ankle’s a little sore as well.
Z-man struggled, getting better,
Almost had it but suffering from fear,
Told him to bend those knees,
Keep his weight on the back trucks.
Messed around some more today,
Tried ollieing and planting off the ramp,
At one point did an axle stall,
From a foot off the tranny.
Landed that sucker on the second try,
But we need to secure the tranny,
But fun having some mobile jankiness,
To throw up on a curb or a cinder block.
This is just the beginning, tip of the iceberg,
Warm sunny days are just days away,
Need to work on that cardio,
Strengthen my arms and legs.
Gonna build a quarter-pipe next weekend,
Nice having some tranny out your backdoor,
Learning and growing on your own turf,
When the weather won’t cooperate.
The days with the kids seem numbered,
Various activities pulling them away,
Z-man gonna play football and wrestle,
Nan doing cross-country and E playing hockey.
My heel keeps hurting and knee gets sore,
But I don’t plan on pushing much anymore,
Dropping and rolling into the bowls,
Take it day-by-day, see how it goes.