When I was a young kid, I maybe skipped school twice. I skipped it once to catch a New York Mets game. And it was so worth it. The thrill of being bad for something so innocuous was cool. Or at least I felt super cool at the time. I was probably a big dork. Well, not probably. I was indeed such a nerd.
The other time I played hookie was when I was living in Spain and skipped out on classes on a clandestine overnight trip so that I could go catch a Goya exhibit at the Museo del Prado in Madrid.  We were standing in line behind nuns. Nuns! Yet I felt so cool in my wild adventure.

Overall, I was a pretty good child and teenager. I once knocked down a bathroom stall at midnight but there is no need to explain how. I was afraid to miss classes. I thought I would be missing some invaluable information. How naive I was then. I should have been living the high life the way that Ferris Bueller did.

Since my goody-two-shoes days of yore, I have come to appreciate the benefit and need for days in which you just get away from it all. If you get a chance to label it a day of hookie, even better.  There is a sense of thrill that heightens that freedom.
So, I had a day to myself in which I treated myself to good food, natural vitamin d, and a walk to put my mind at ease. The beauty of being in Los Angeles is that a beach is never too far away (even with the crazy traffic).  I made my way to Venice Beach where the air is filled with pot. The sidewalks are filled with singers, poets and bodybuilders. Its a good place to go hang out to feel connected to the misfits. I wanted be a misfit. The Ramones should have sung about that.

As I walked the boardwalk, I came across the skateboard park. A young girl was flying in the air and around the skateboarders. She was thrilling to watch. She was no more than ten years old. Yet she was flying fast around the curves leaving the older guys in the dust.

She was amazing. I want to able to fly as high as she did. What a way to live at such a young age. I wondered how she got into taking such “risks” so young. Her jumps seemed so dangerous. I wanted to take her risk-taking energy, bottle it and distribute to  workplaces across the country.  One could learn a lot from such a young girl.
To fly, to learn, to dream.
Tom petty noted it best in his song “I’m learning to fly, bit I ain’t got wings”  that song energizes me and so should this girl.