Ice-skating date at our local arena

Ideally, in winter, we would be outdoors for a skating date at an outdoor rink. However, there are two reasons we chose to go to our local arena. First (and most obviously), our local arena is local! It is so close we can be there in five minutes, and they have a special “adult skate” time a few times a week. Middle of the day and middle of the week means its usually pretty quiet; not many people show up, and all of the regulars have become more friends. Second, this pre-Christmas season here. While where we live in Canada is relatively mild, and outdoor arenas aren’t quite ready for the traffic. I know there are some locations that are available, but those are far into town and always busy. Nice quality ice is not my top priority, but it makes a big difference for Kevin. He loves to show off his skills, and when we visit our local arena he always insists on getting there early to try to get the freshest ice.

So today, even though we often skate a couple of times a week for preconditioning for our ski season, we are going to call our skate today “A date skate.”

What does that mean? Well, I’ll tell you! Kevin is an outstanding skater, I dream to watch, really. I’d love to see him go whipping around the ice, so smoothly – it’s actually quite sensual to watch! And while we will still do that, he also hast to pay sort of pay attention to me! After all, that’s what the date is all about!

I went back to ice-skating after years away from the sport. In fact, when I was young, I would watch the Olympics and dream that one day I would be an Olympic figure skater. After all, my mother had been a roller dancer - a woman who can dance, with a partner, on rollerskates at the not so local status arena! I had it in my blood! Skating was one of the community events that my parents approved, and there was always a book of tickets that provided us with a less expensive entry fee for weekend public skating sessions. However, as time went by, it was getting really did not improve, the me and the Olympics were not looking like good partners. When I was in grade 5, my mom and dad bought me a new pair of skates for Christmas, and enrolled me in a figure skating class. I was so excited exclamation! I was finally going to become a real figure skater.

Of course, the truth prevailed. All those beautiful, graceful, i.e. skaters who look like they might one day be in the Olympics had of course been skating for years, private lessons, no less, and they practice their figure eights in those cute little dresses, and move gracefully across the ice, at any speed. I look different. Not so grateful. Not so skilled. So I left figure skating and went back to. We can all skate. Fast forward to now. I started skating with Kevin when I was recovering from cancer. It was awful. The skates hurt my feet, I had very little bones, I was bald, and skill I may have had was not just a minute, but was gone!

Anyway, I stayed with it because I knew it would help me to recover in every way, and sully, over a couple of seasons, it came back, and (dare I say?) I even improved. So, our date today will include holding hands, looking into into each others, eyes, and a lunch A lunch date right after. sounds pretty good doesn’t it? And, I will be skating with this super cute guy who is an excellent skater. Lucky me!!

So don’t be shy. Try scary again. Hold hands and left. Then go out for a bite or a hot chocolate – it’s a wonderful advent day!!