There are just some days when I have a restless aggression. It reminds me of growing up with four brothers who could never contain their bodies from what was called “horsing around”. Though on the surface playful in nature, the behavior always contained elements of competition and belligerence. My mother at some point would kick them all out of the house and tell them to come back when they got “it”, what ever “it” was, out of their system.

When I feel this way, usually an artifact of too much to do and too many academic meetings and committees, I need to go out and run it off since horsing around with my peers is not an option. In these moments I do rather feel like a boy and dress accordingly. One of the ways my brothers would get the “it” out of their systems was to skateboard which first came into popular use in the 1960’s. I remember experimenting with my brothers’ skateboards riding down various hills in our neighborhood. My parents never would have thought I might want one. The challenge when skateboarding is needing to stay balanced and go fast at the same time, not unlike the one that comes from the way my life seems to be running lately.

Although I don’t currently have a skateboard and probably would not risk my bones to it at this point, the restless energy I had got expended at a skatepark where I ran up and down as if I had a skateboard before the real skateboarders came out to play.  Whether it came from dressing like a boy or having a great deal of physical exercise I finally got to the point where my mother would think it acceptable to let me back inside the house.

What do you wear when you want to “horse around”?