Young again

It's amazing what a day at the beach can do to rejuvenate my soul. My old friend Mary Beth and I decided to go roller skating on Monday. We started out with breakfast at "Longboarders" where we had almond french toast. Then it was time for our big adventure. I had not been on skates for many years so I was sort of hobbling along the boardwalk that parallels the beach in Carlsbad. I finally got my "groove" back and got going a bit faster but my right wheels suddenly came to a stop as they hit a crack in the sidewalk. My left leg continued to roll forward, causing me to o-so-gracefully descend into "the splits" position, dragging my right knee behind. Ahhh...road rash. My left leg felt like it was tearing off, and I sat there for a minute contemplating whether or not I could actually stand up. Mary Beth (who was blissfully gliding on ahead of me and didn't see it happen) skated back to see if she could help me. I said, "I just wanna take my skates off now." I had had enough. Then, glutton for punishment that I am, we went boogie boarding. The ocean water felt startlingly cold after skating for an hour in the baking sun. But nothing beats the ocean for a revitalizing experience! In a few moments we were trying to catch some waves, but ended up getting washed up on the sand where I successfully scraped both knees. After a short while we were "all washed up" and decided it was time to eat. We had a great Mexican lunch at "Fidel's" and headed home in the afternoon. I felt like I had conquered. I'm not sure what I conquered, but it was nice to know at 50 I could play hookie, eat where I wanted, laugh and play like a kid, and get a strawberry on the knee. It made me want more of the same, but I think I will (a) get in better shape and (b) get better skate wheels.