two ships collide. tales of the high desert sea.

long ago there was a crew of us skating the love bowls outside of phoenix in arizona. it was winter and the sun was out as it always is come that time of year. i cant remember exactly who all was there but... well.. "we" were all there.

now, to run into people that far out in the desert kinda says something about the life we led. scavengers, nomads, even homeless at times, skipping from one couch to another on a monthly basis.. anyhow, a car pulls up with outta state plates. we werent sure if we were getting the boot or if someone just wanted to see what we were doing and watch. the door opened and the first out of the car was adam alfaro who i had met several years earlier when he had just released his first black label part and swung thru santa cruz after signing on to the sessions clothing roster. see adam was ahead of his time kick flipping onto rails in the late 90s and we had the same hair sorta hair, so i guess we bonded over that complete ridiculousness... then chet childress, jason adams, jackson taylor, grant schubert, and jai tanju all climb out of the vehicle. it clicked and they were on a six-gun trip thru the southwest. half "star struck" but more stoked to see adam, we skated the love bowls with these guys and sorta started some small friendships. see, jai and jason started coming to arizona from time to time with enjoi and we would meet up when possible and roll around whatever park, dictch or street spot. chet ended up moving into my old room in a house in portland of which i moved back in the following summer, adam and i half kept in touch via brain waves and skating, and in travelling home, id run into jackson from time to time at the wilson skate park in chicago where he was living.

once again, today and a million miles later, i ran into jai and got a chance to catch up with him. we were never the closest of friends or kept up all that often, it was just more of that worldly skate-rat disease or the ill see you down the road in a few years connection. theres something to be said about how heavy skateboarding runs thru these veins.. something ill never lose sight of or take for granted. it feels good to run in to good people that you share something so heavy in common with and can lose an hour of time thinking about old times and new ones to come. speak of what was soooo important then and compare it to whats important now..

the worlds increasingly getting smaller and smaller as time slips ever faster thru these numb hands i have. life is good, even in tarnished time... heres two poloroids from winter 02/03 that jai shotof me. half dreads, pink grip, and 60mm wheels.