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Monday, January 30, 2006
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Lacking a more creative title, I will call this post "Ice Skating."
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After the tradition
started two years ago,
(and yes,
I remember
getting all kinds
of voicemails
on my cell when
y'all were trying to get
a hold of us that first time)
it has become
customary
to make
a yearly pilgrimage
to Penn's Landing
for an outing
with friends.
This is no ordinary outing.
No shopping
at the mall
with the girls.
No, this particular event
is looked forward to
by all
with great anticipation
because
in all likelihood,
it only comes around
once a year.
Oh yeah! It was so much fun! Now, it would take me all day to sit here and type everything about the day, but since a picture is worth a thousand words, I intend to save my fingers from cramps by inserting photos that will speak for me. (Be sure and run your cursor over the photos, cause that's where I write my own comments.)
After a month of repeated tries at this and countless phone calls to see who could come on what days, and who couldn't come at all, and when the rink was open and checking the weather for a nice warm day, and after letting just one too many nice warm days go by, Saturday was the day picked. What relief! I had almost despaired of going at all! But off we went, Mom and James and I up to the Slack's house where we were to meet Mrs. Slack, Charles and his two friends, Kim & Stevie.
Stopping at Wawa long enough to pick up a hot creamy cappuccino, which you just know I can't come out without, and filled teh gas tank, we were on our way to the traffic jam on Walt Whitman Bridge. *indignant facial expression indescribable by the mere use of smileys* Ok, well it wasn't all that bad, especially with Mrs. Slack honking at everyone to let them know just exactly which lane she intended to defend occupy.
Mapquest is all well and good (and I know some people swear by it), but I don't think it's really as helpful as it seems. They say you can find a place without knowing the address, but it's not true. You have to know where it is and how to get there in order for them to give you accurate directions and then, who needs 'em?
Needless to say, it took just a few minutes longer than expected to find the place. We were set to meet the rest of our party at the rink and, having spent two days trying to get Derek on the phone long enough to pass along those same defective directions, I then had to try for his cell to let him know that that's just what they were, defective directions. When I got Melissa on the phone, they were stuck in that same bridge traffic. (I feel for ya.) She strongly admonished me not to have any fun until they all got there.
Hey, I think I'm doing good. I had already fallen down twice and I was still smiling. No, I'm not having fun. I'm just, uh, smiling for the camera. Really.
James isn't having fun either. Really. Why don't you believe me?
Ok, Kimmy and Charles were having fun, but I really didn't think the instructions applied to them. Poor Charles! He could not find a pair of skates that were comfortable enough to skate on. I mean, sure, the rental skates are just plastic things with laces that reach the whole way to your eyebrows, but you'd think he'd have found one pair that he could use. Stevie had already given up by the time I took this picture. I couldn't tell if Kim was helping Chuck or if it was the other way around. :)
I kept my eyes peeled for the Davises to show up and before long I spied a cute little pink sweater and two pairs of familiar sunglasses, belonging to Dana, Melissa & Manda, respectively. I trotted (What else could I do with skates on?) over to where they stood waiting in line to buy their passes and Manda introduced me to her friend, Tohar, whom I had heard so much about, and her sister, Christina. I went in with them while they exchanged their shoes for skates (not exactly the best end of the deal, but I guess it works) and started to shed my gloves and jacket.
When I said I was waiting for a warm day, I was not expecting such a convenient temperature. Almost nobody had a jacket on. Just the little kids and the beginning adults who still needed the extra padding for when they'd fall. :) Melissa and Derek came in while I traded my skates for a larger pair. Still as plastic and yet, somehow, the extra room inside made them more comfortable.
Out on the ice, I watched as Tohar made her way around the rink with at least four people trying to offer the poor girl advice. It was her first(?) time and I felt for her because Melissa and Manda were dragging her along between them. That's what Manda and Cara had done to me last year, and thanks girls for the help, but I really learned better when only one person held onto my hand. :)
A good half hour went by before the fellows in bright orange jackets clamoured for our attention.
"attention. skaters. we will now take a brief intermission at which time we will clean the ice. please exit the rink safely and quickly."
They sounded so cheery.
But we got off anyway.
And along came the zamboni the clean the ice. You can see in the picture how the rink manager has wisely decided to portay his cities pride and his own team spirit by displaying the logo of the nation's #1 NFL team across the front and back of his machine.
We watched from the sidelines as the zamboni went gliding across the ice, converting the slush created by hockey stops into water that refroze to fill the digs made by the more skilled skaters when they would spin on one skate.
Some of us just watched.
Some of us caught up on all the latest neighborhood news.
Some of us just smiled and looked cute.
Then we all got in one picture and looked great together.
I have found two amazing phenomena about ice skating. (1) It is easier to skate with your hands held behind your back. People had told me this. I thought they were trying to set me up for disaster. But it's true. With your hands out, granted you can catch yourself if you fall, but you are throwing yourself off balance and are less likely to fall if they are close to your body. Maybe behind the back isn't the best place to have your emergency landing gear, but even in front of you works well.
And (2) as soon as you get a camera in your hands, everyone looks away. It's true. Observe.
As soon as I took the camera from Mom, and she left to walk with Mrs. Slack, no one would look at me. I swear, it was as if I had suddenly grown another head. I would wait for someone to come within camera distance and when they would see me, they'd instantly look away and pretend they hadn't seen me. Only once was I able to catch Manda looking at me.
And I so love this picture.
Dana, your new nickname is Icepuck. K?
She would race down the rink in a game of tag and you might as well give her up for lost once she's made you "it," because you're not going to catch her.
Silhouettes on ice are really cool looking. Unlike myself, Manda is apparently adept at skating on one foot. We tried it with Dana. Derek on one side holding her up, I on the other ready to keep her from falling. We didn't get far. Maybe she didn't trust us to hold her.
In the second half of the session, I tried my hand at helping Tohar. We did really well as long as we just went slow. One handed, she made it all the way around the rink. It was rather funny at times, for she would lose her balance and somehow use my hand to regain it, just in time for my to lose my balance trying to skate so slowly. :)
Everyone else on the rink looked really funny, too. (And I don't just mean the skating ability. Some of the hairstyles . . . ) They people wearing jeans looked hilarious. The sides and back of their pants were all wet from where they had hit the ice. There was one fellow in particular who I remember had his shirt all wet on the back as well.
Pretty soon, we heard it again.
"attention. skaters. we will now take a brief intermission at which time we will clean the ice. please exit the rink safely and quickly."
So we walked inside and waited with everyone else to have our shoes returned to us so we could walk normally again. I hadn't seen any sign of Charles or his friends for an hour or more. They'd gone walking in center city, so we just called to let them know we were leaving. We were going to stop for coffee the ride home and there was this one car that followed us almost the whole way from the rink back to Barnes & Noble. But that's the beginning of another post.
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posted by cori
1/30/2006 04:23:00 PM
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Sniff. This is the first year I missed out on the ice skating fun. Although, I can't believe you broke tradition and went during the day! There is something about skating in the freezing darkness with the lights from the bridge glimmering softly that I simply love.
I'm so glad you all had a great time. Reading your post made me think back to the fun times we had learning how to skate, trying to skate backwards, playing tag, having our ritual after-skating coffee at B&N, etc. Happy memories!
Derek, your car looks great! I had almost forgotten that you had purchased the Jeep until I saw the picture.
Enjoy winter (although that sun looked a bit Texan to me :))
~Cara
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Cara,
I thoroughly agree with you about night-time skating, especially since I have now tried the alternative. But trust me, it doesn't alter the fun any! BTW, the rink moved (or, rather, they moved the rink), so it is no longer under the fabulous blinking lights of the Ben Franklin bridge. A disappointment surely, but "c'est la vie."
Cori: Can't wait for the B&N post!
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Oh, no, now I have to write it. :) I totally forgot about it.
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| Sounds like some kind of sports thing, but in reality, the ShugaBowl is just a little hideaway for me, Sugarcube herself, to let loose my thoughts and occasional creativeness. |
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Sniff. This is the first year I missed out on the ice skating fun. Although, I can't believe you broke tradition and went during the day! There is something about skating in the freezing darkness with the lights from the bridge glimmering softly that I simply love.
I'm so glad you all had a great time. Reading your post made me think back to the fun times we had learning how to skate, trying to skate backwards, playing tag, having our ritual after-skating coffee at B&N, etc. Happy memories!
Derek, your car looks great! I had almost forgotten that you had purchased the Jeep until I saw the picture.
Enjoy winter (although that sun looked a bit Texan to me :))
~Cara