Kids who defy gravity. Next Oprah.

Out of frame

London, ON, April 2011

About this photo: Thematic. Single people. Here. Just because.

It's easy to walk past a skateboard park and be dismissive of those who spend time there. Between the graffiti, the grubby clothes and general slacker-like demeanor, this isn't the wholesome ideal most of us associate with life in the burbs.

But that's the neat thing about assumptions: Percolate them long enough and we might realize how wrong we were in the first place. Which is how I came to appreciate this place and the kids who hang here.

I won't become a skater boy anytime soon, and I'd still rather my kids focus on things like homework than ollies and backflips. But for a few minutes on a Sunday afternoon, I got to see a little more deeply into this fascinating place where experienced hands help newbies, where everyone learns to push themselves just a little bit further through relentless trial and error, where the definition of community seems to take on a new and unexpected form.

Funny what you can learn just by hanging around for a bit.

Your turn: What's he thinking?