Just Like Nothing (else) on Earth: Catoctin Skate Park 

By Tim Jon

You can rest assured: you will never see me enjoying full use of this local facility, at least not in the present lifetime. Having been diagnosed with what appears, now, to be a lifelong case of vertigo, I became noticeably dizzy just navigating my way ‘round the place, and taking a handful of pictures. Now, that being said, I was at the same time lured into the beautiful geometry of the surfaces before me—quite unlike any other natural or man-made attraction in Loudoun County, Virginia. The Skate Plaza at Catoctin Park originally opened in 1998, with a re-opening some 20 years down the line—in a new and improved condition. 

The task of describing the formation of the dips, curves, humps and swirls offered to the would-be skaters would be more difficult, at least for me, than coming up with word-pictures to create an image of a Lockheed SR-71—the legendary Mach 3 reconnaissance plane from the 1960’s. The Blackbird looks like a Salvador Dali-inspired icepick. I’m still working on a good verbal schematic of the local roller-skating facility. 

I have no doubt that these two futuristic artifacts—the plane and the park—require an incredibly high level of skill in the participant. I would also assume that the sensations of flight imparted by these two vastly different ‘craft’ are quite unlike anything else on (or off!) the earth. 

Now I loved bicycle riding as a younger (and more levelheaded, at least medically speaking) person and I’d often cover 15 miles or more, after a strenuous workout in my home ‘gym.’ But I always loved the sense of grounded-ness—that literal contact with the earth—and yet, I have nothing but admiration for those who choose to fly, the pilots, skydivers, gymnasts and yes, those brave young kids who learn how to navigate just about any kind of surface (even the lack thereof!) on a contraption known as a skate board—or other wheeled device for similar purposes. I literally feel a loss of balance in just watching these gravitational magicians. 

I can only imagine the level of agility attained and enjoyed by these individuals (including my Dad who had a private pilot’s license before graduating high school around 1940, mind you. This heavenward ambition led him, and millions of others, thankfully into earth-shattering events, the reverberations of we still feel to this day.) So, when I pass by the Catoctin Skate Park in Leesburg, Virginia, I do so with the memories of those who’ve gone further and higher and faster and in more gravitational configurations than I care to imagine. 

And who knows? Some of our future aviation heroes may be yesterday or today’s skateboarding champions, or ‘mere’ apprentices. Roll and fly well and safely, all of you, braver than I. 

And you—if you’d like to enjoy a good case of the ‘heebie-jeebies,’ you could do a lot worse than to grab a section of park bench and spend a couple of hours enjoying the talents of some of our young athletes at this local facility—located along Catoctin Circle—adjacent to the Loudoun County Volunteer Rescue Squad building, a few blocks west of Market Street. 

Use of drugs is prohibited at the site, but you might want to pick up a few tablets of meclizine on the way home, just to make sure your feet are really on the ground. And, if you’re anything like me, you can be very thankful to enjoy the full force of the gravitational pull offered by our planet. I feel better already. 

And, you know? Come to think of it, it took a few more words, but I guess we didn’t do too badly in our verbal description of the local skate park, did we? At least we refrained from using phrases like, “It rocks, Dude,” or, more to my generation, “It’s really cool!” But it most definitely is both of those, as well. 

Postscript: I mentioned experience with vertigo at the top of the story: just to clarify, I’ve been working full-time for the US Postal Service in a very active position, despite the intermittent sensations—usually a feeling of falling and spinning at the same time, usually only upon waking. I’m fine for everyday situations, but I’ll never be good with any kind of heights or sudden, cliff-like formations. I thank heaven the Grand Canyon is not located in Loudoun County, Virginia.