In and Out of It

On my way into the gym today I could not help but notice a skinhead skateboarder sitting on a bench near the entrance. Steepleton, like the rest of Dope City, is swarming with skateboarders but I noticed this one because he was bleeding from all over his sun burnt body. He was bleeding so much I thought it was fake movie blood. As I got closer I noticed a lot of the blood was coming from the back of his head.

I asked him, "You want some first aid motherfucker? I'll go get my first aid kit from my car."

"That's ok," he told me. He looked like he was going to pass out from all the blood he was losing. "I just got cut off by a car over on the hill. Fucker nearly killed me I guess."

After he looked me over for a second he asked, "You first aid fuckers must sure like blood, eh?"

"Some of us sure do," I assured him, "and those of us that don't like to have a good look at some every chance we get to keep ourselves de-sensitized to the sight of it."

He laughed the laugh of the injured man and said, "Glad I could help you out."

Just then an old car full of other skinhead skateboarders pulled into the parking lot and hustled the guy off to the hospital or his drug dealer: whoever it is skateboarders go see when they are in a lot of pain.

When I got home from the gym I took the Hammer to the park where a ball game was underway. She usually likes to visit everybody in the park but she has figured out it is best to leave the boys playing baseball alone. She used to run straight up to the pitcher and tell him, "Give me the ball or I'll rip it from your mitt."

Back at home the Hammer jumped into her pool. Sonja had filled it up for her. If there is one thing the Hammer likes more than a ball it is her baby pool. She jumps in and out of it, throws stuff into it and throws stuff out of it and goes crazy in the yard with her cooled off paws.

I sat down in a chair with a welfare beer, swatted mosquitoes and watched her entertain herself. It reminded me of playing in the Hockey family pool when I was a boy. Summer is great, but nothing beats summer when you were a boy.