There is a time in all of our lives when we look back at specific memories in our childhood and realize one thing or another. Many of my memories make me cringe with how embarrassing they are, others make me smile, others are thankfully repressed in a recess of my mind that I hope stays in darkness forever. Many people think of their childhood as a time of innocence (hence the term "childhood innocence") I have been thinking a lot about my childhood and the childish perspective (childish not used as a derogatory word, but rather the real perspective I had as a child) with which I looked at those circumstances and the adult perspective from which I view them now.I walk to school (which I have already mentioned) and on the way, I pass over some train tracks, 
which brings me back to a very specific memory from my childhood. I grew up in a large part in Oregon. When I lived in a city named Roseburg, my older brother and I passed the time Rollerblading. We would go to different parking lots where people would come together and setup ramps for everyone. It was like a "bring your own" skate park. The memory of rollerblading in Oregon still remains one of my fondest. Anyway, on our way home one day, we were walking along the train tracks with our rollerblades in hand and what I realize now was a hobo (I say hobo because it was along the train tracks, but really you can take your pick: homeless, bum, vagrant, crack addicted waste of existence barely human being (wow that was harsh)) came up to us and walked with us for a bit. She (I think) asked us if we liked skating, and in my childish exuberance said yes. She went on to ask if there were a lot of places to skate around here. (I think I did most of the talking) I said no or something to that affect. I think there was more small talk, but I was like 9 when this happened, give me a break. She eventually said that we should start a skate park (AWESOME) and that we could get people to give us money, and we could all work and make money , bring it together and make a park. She explained that she could help by keeping the money and really managing the business aspect of the park......... I don't remember much after that except for me being SUPER EXCITED about the new skate park that I was going to build with my new business partner, and then my brother telling me that she was a "con-woman."
which brings me back to a very specific memory from my childhood. I grew up in a large part in Oregon. When I lived in a city named Roseburg, my older brother and I passed the time Rollerblading. We would go to different parking lots where people would come together and setup ramps for everyone. It was like a "bring your own" skate park. The memory of rollerblading in Oregon still remains one of my fondest. Anyway, on our way home one day, we were walking along the train tracks with our rollerblades in hand and what I realize now was a hobo (I say hobo because it was along the train tracks, but really you can take your pick: homeless, bum, vagrant, crack addicted waste of existence barely human being (wow that was harsh)) came up to us and walked with us for a bit. She (I think) asked us if we liked skating, and in my childish exuberance said yes. She went on to ask if there were a lot of places to skate around here. (I think I did most of the talking) I said no or something to that affect. I think there was more small talk, but I was like 9 when this happened, give me a break. She eventually said that we should start a skate park (AWESOME) and that we could get people to give us money, and we could all work and make money , bring it together and make a park. She explained that she could help by keeping the money and really managing the business aspect of the park......... I don't remember much after that except for me being SUPER EXCITED about the new skate park that I was going to build with my new business partner, and then my brother telling me that she was a "con-woman." 
So as I said, I think about this story just about every day as I pass the train tracks on the way to school. I sometimes laugh, I sometimes cringe at how gullible I was, and other times I think. I think about how that hobo really was and how I perceived her in my youth. Although I viewed her a savvy business woman looking similar to the hobo above, she was probably more like this.
I will never know. I guess I prefer to remember it the way that I do. It makes me wonder whether that fondness that we feel toward our childhood was really that times were more innocent, or it was the same screwed up place, through eyes that didn't know any better.
I will never know. I guess I prefer to remember it the way that I do. It makes me wonder whether that fondness that we feel toward our childhood was really that times were more innocent, or it was the same screwed up place, through eyes that didn't know any better.
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