From a very young age I either had someone put ice skates on my feet and tie the laces or put my ice skates on and tie my laces. I wear my custom-made figure skates I ordered in 1972 from a local sporting goods store in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan during my summer skating school in July. Most figure skaters skate four seasons of their school year. For example, I will begin skating again in late September or early October, and skate the next seven months until April. This means rising at five-thirty each morning and driving to our local skating arena with artificial ice in cold, winter weather.
In fact, I did start out skating on natural ice in small-town Saskatchewan. When our weather turned cold in mid-November and I began to hope for colder weather, the ice man in our very humble skating rink started pouring water on solid ground to lay the ice surface. When enough layers of ice remain frozen, he opens up our local rink to figure skaters, hockey players and other enthusiastic ice skaters.
This year I decided to take advantage of our local outdoor ice arena in early December and skate twice on consecutive Sundays for one hour set aside for ice skaters in their mature years, like myself. The first time one other man stayed to skate and we enjoyed cooler weather each getting their confidence up skating around our small ice surface under colder December skies. Then the following week a few more skaters show up and I enjoy skating one more hour. During my Christmas holiday, I am invited to go ice skating with my grandson, and his parents and we have a very grand laugh together.
After my holiday I repeated my ice skating activity each Sunday for one hour for another five consecutive weeks and only missed this week due to very snowy weather shutting down our outdoor skating rink and will doubt reopen this year. So in total, I venture out for seven skating sessions, enjoying donning my vintage ice skates and skating under blue skies.
On a cautious note, I practised lacing up my ice skates in the comfort of my home and walking around for few times gaining my courage. Just over one year ago, I tried putting these vintage skates on and had to grab onto the wall. I felt reluctant I ever skate again. So now I share my personal story, and if you have something you used to do and now feel at a loss, I wish you well on your journey to try again. Maulo
Comments