Memories of childhood days take me back in time. I remember when I got my first pair of ice skates. They were black with black laces. I knew they were hand-me-downs from one of my uncles, but that didn't faze me a bit. I was ecstatic. Finally, I could join the others skating on our neighbor's pond.We headed out, skates in hand. There was my aunt, my brother, my uncle and me. We made our way across the road and down the lane to the pond. My uncle tested the ice, slowly edging out farther to make sure it was safe for us younger ones. We put on our skates and laced them up. Under the wooden bridge next to the pond was an old wooden chair. It was there specifically for those of us who were learning to skate. I pushed that chair around the ice doing my best to keep my ankles from bending to the side. Even at a young age, I realized that the blades of the skates had to touch the ice in order for you to skate.
For several weeks I pushed that wooden chair around until I felt confident enough to try skating without it. At first either my aunt or uncle would skate with me to help me keep my balance. Then one day my brother and I went skating alone. We put on our skates and I ventured out onto the ice on my first solo skate.
I fell a few times, but got up and continued on my way. I was determined to skate gracefully around that little pond with no help from anyone. It wasn't long before I was flying around the pond, enjoying the bite of the cold on my face.
The following year, I enjoyed "crack the whip" with the older kids and we had a lot of fun on that pond. Our laughter would ring in the cold winter air and we'd skate for hours. I always enjoyed skating at night when the full moon beamed down on us, lighting our path around that pond.
Today, many of the kids I skated with there have passed on, but the memories of skating on that pond will always be with me.
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What a fun memory. You painted a great word picture and I can almost see you out there!
ReplyDeleteHope you are feeling better today!
I never skated on a pond but did start in my grampa's backyard.
ReplyDeleteHow wonderful to share this memory with us Mary!!! I so wish my dad would have taken the time to teach me...he used to ice skate and always said "I'll take you out someday"...but, he never did.
ReplyDeleteI bet it is thrilling!!
PS...I read about the grapefruit and left a comment there too.
ReplyDeleteA great memory picture. I lived in International Falls, MN (plan to blog on that one of these soon days) and we had to go to the rink every night after supper, because that was the thing to do. Every neighborhood had its own rink. I was a real wuss in the cold, and spent most of my time in the warming house. And my skates really didn't fit my bit feet, so my toes were numb. Not good memories for me, but everyone else seemed to be having a wonderful time! It was beautiful at night, though.
ReplyDeleteYou make ice skating sound so wonderful and not even one scary story of friends going through the ice. The thought of only a few inches of ice between me and the lake never appealed to me.
ReplyDeleteMary,
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful memory of your childhood. Thank you for sharing.
Jean
Mary
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful memory and I can see a cute little girl out there with her wooden chair in the imagination of my mind. Thanks for sharing. Peace
Loved this post Mary! I can just see you whizzing along the ice as a young girl. Using the chair-is so neat and clever.
ReplyDeleteHi Mary. I hope you are having a beautiful day up there in Ontario. I just love the fact that I have a friend there. As I mentioned before some of my ancestors also lived in Ontario, Cornwall and VanKleek Hill areas as well as other areas.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading about your ice skating. You must have been pretty young when you started. I never tried it but when I was a child we got the metal clamp on roller skates and believe me I thought I was in heaven. Oh how I loved skating down the sidewalk in the sunshine with the wind blowing my hair. I can still hear the sound of those metal wheels as they grated on the cement and feel the vibration of the sidewalk crack's as I whizzed over them. Thank you for bringing back such a pleasant memory, especially as today is a cool, rainy day here.
Thanks also for your prayers for my daughter Cyndi. Also for my niece and the others.
Prayer is such a powerful gift. I thank God for it.
I enjoyed your memory. I've never skated, ice or roller. I never learned. I have this balance problem, you know.
ReplyDeleteMama Bear
I never learned to skate well and would still prefer a chair to hold. When my children were small I would push them in a stroller in the ice to keep my balance. Nice memories.
ReplyDeleteMary, do you remember the double bladed skates you would tie on your boots? That is what I learned to skate with. Your story brought back that memory.
ReplyDeleteGod bless.
Omigosh, I had forgotten about playing Crack the Whip while skating!! hehe I use to love being at the very end but quite often I'd end up flying into the boards. lol We'd always gather at the playground's outside rink:-) One year my dad made a rink beside our house and what fun we had...I swear I lived in skates during the winter months!! Great memories, my friend. xoxo
ReplyDeleteOh, I remember ics skating when I was young, too! My dad had a shallow area bulldozed out and filled it from the creek so he wouldn't have to worry about us kids falling through the ice into the creek. All the kids in town skated there, too. A big bon fire at night with old tires was the icing on the cake for us! When my kids were small, we built our own rink in our back yard for them. Nothing like those days back then!!! I, too, remember "crack the whip" as I was the youngest kid and always on the tail end,LOL What great memories you have awakened in me!
ReplyDelete((( HUGS )))
This sounds like a wonderful memory Mary. I wish that I had of learned to ice skate but that was not to be living in the south! We had to stick to roller skates.
ReplyDeleteWhat is 'Cracking the Whip'?