Monday, July 25, 2011

roller skating

When I was growing up during the 80's in southern cali suburbia, I was a carefree girl who enjoyed playing outside until the street lights flickered on and we kid folk dispersed to our homes for bed.

Days were simple then.

My neighborhood was filled with kids. Some my age, some older, some younger, but it didn't matter because we all had one thing in common: we were hard core about playing.

Whether it was riding bikes, skateboards, or playing tag, we didn't mess around with playtime. There was no need for structured play dates or parental supervision in our hood. We had everything we needed just by having each other.

If there was one thing that I remember enjoying the most, it was roller skating. We had elementary school skate nights at our local skate ring, Skate Way, where I'd wish and pray for Adam Port to ask me to couples skate. And the one time that he did, I gushed to my friends,"I'm never washing this hand again!"

Sigh. Those were the days.

And as I practiced my jumps, spins, and backwards skating in my neighborhood, I knew life was good. Because it was.

And now when I catch a glimpse of roller skates, my heart skips a beat and I'm that young girl, skating in the neighborhood of my childhood without a care in the world.





Source: etsy.com via Katie on Pinterest



Much love,
Katie
lollipops

22 comments:

Genn said...

Oh to be a carefree kid again huh?!!!
Cute post. And cute roller skates pics.

April said...

i am LOVING these pictures!!! i would have my mom drop me off at skateland and then pray some boy asked me to couple skate!!! yikes!

amy said...

I loved roller skating as a girl. We would have a roller derby in our garage in the middle of the winter. My oldest brother would be the "d.j." and we would ride to Eye of the Tiger again and again and again!

Erin said...

I'm glad rollerskating brought you so much pleasure...for me it was all about humiliation and pain. Not so coordinated in this neck of the woods. Always hugging the half wall at the rink and never brave enough to try it on the street. And I'm afraid my girls are destined to following in my always falling/often tripping/completely nonathletic footsteps. Love your link within boxes- gonna have to steal that one from you too! You are becoming quite the blog pro! Impressed!

Greta said...

I had a white and yellow pair of Nash roller skates. Oh how I loved them. LOVED.
Roller skating is big here in Long Beach. There is a skate shop you would die for. :)
Thanks for the good memories.
Love from,
Greta

Jessica said...

Oh my goodness, those Rainbow Brite rollers skates are too cool! You could have been describing my childhood in small town SC up there, minus the skating. We were bike riders more often than skaters. ;-)

Heather @ we.are.the.holdens said...

This post made me smile, Katie. Love the pics and how you shared with us a piece of your childhood..:)

Marie said...

Skating was good...I was so sad to see our skate rink close down:( Ending of an era and all that.

But now, all of the sudden one has opened up again! and there are lots of college girls skating competetively in roller derbys. Thats cool, I guess, but I will always be partial to the limbo on skates and couples skating with the disco light on.

susan jakovina said...

This post brought back so many memories! I was a roller skating QUEEN!! Ok...princess maybe.
I wore them everywhere -
such simpler times weren't they?
xo

Karen said...

Roller skating and staying out till the sun went down, 2 of my favorite childhood memories.

The Olive Tree Blog said...

Oh I loved roller skating on our local tennis court...it was so smooth!!! I always wanted a sakting birthday party...sighhhhh

Janna said...

oh no you didn't find rainbow bright roller skates!!! That's awesome. Love this post. LOVE IT!!

Leah Yzerman Kruszka said...

First of all, I had those Rainbow Brite skates! And secondly, Adam Port, ha ha ha ha! I know exactly what you mean!

{cuppakim} said...

so fun!

i never got into roller skating - although I did have a roller skating birthday (because other kids had them, and i wanted one). i was so timid on skates, that when they made the birthday girl (me) go out in the middle for the hokey pokey, i cried. hahaha.

but i think if i had those Rainbow Brite skates it would have made me a whole lot braver!

Kellee the Caffeinated said...

I totally had the Rainbow Brite skates!!!!!

Anonymous said...

ah, nostalgia. it was rollerblading for me. those were the days :) these skates are super cute!

sarah said...

hahah oh man thats soooo fun! out skating rink from growing up is still there and my friends who now teach in the area schools go there for filed trips and I get so jealous!! :)

Amanda said...

ahhh leopard roller skates!!! haha so awesome xo

Rebecca said...

Ahhh yes roller skating! I loved it so much! I once kissed the floor & left my two front teeth behind to tell the tale! ;)
Precious memories!

Rebecca

Adrian said...

I'll take the rainbow bright ones please!

Kelly said...

you totally brought back some, ok a ton of memories.
rainbow bright YES & PLEASE...THANK YOU.

grey rose (they/them) said...

my pops taught me how to roller skate, i was three.
had skating parties until i was twelve!! for years, my pops would drop me off early on saturday morning-while he went to study at the seminary library-i would skate all. day. long. for $5.
the b52s, michael jackson, marky mark and the bangles were the soundtrack.
i never owned a pair of skates, never could afford them. it didn't even matter, i just LOVED skating!

xo