Catastrophe On Ice

My friend Heather and I went ice skating today in celebration of her birthday. I last tried this about sixteen years ago; Heather tried it for the first and only time about twelve years ago.

So we got to the rink, laced up our rented skates, and cautiously began to shuffle our way across the rug. Heather said our awkward walk reminded her of Imperial AT-ATs, and all we needed was some Ewoks to string rope in front of us and make us fall. Heather's a bit of a nerd.

As we inched closer to the rink entrance, we passed a man going the other way. "You can make it!" he encouraged us. If they're saying that before you even get on the ice...

I compulsively crossed myself before stepping onto the rink. We both began to slide forward, very cautiously, holding the wall at all times. Some little kids were on the ice as well, doing jumps and spins and backwards skating and heaven knows what else-- I couldn't watch them for very long without getting off balance.

After a while we both found our ice legs and managed to let go of the wall and skate a bit faster. We tired out well before the kids did, though. It was lots of fun to mess around on the ice, and just as fun to get the skates off our tired feet afterward and sink into the soft seats of Heather's car.

I'd show you photographic evidence of all this, but neither Heather nor I felt inclined to document our display of gracefulness. :)