1. Skate a Solo in the Holiday Show

 1. Skate a Solo in the Holiday Show

At my local rink (Leddy Park Arena) in Burlington, Vermont, the biggest skating show of the year is the Holiday Show every December. I've always been intimidated by the fact that the show is longer, often with over 50 individual and group performances, and the crowd is bigger. This year, though, I decided to try it. I accidentally left out my favorite element a half-flip jump) and see a million places for improvement, but at the same time, it was fun! Looking forward to using it as a starting point for the next phase of working on my skating.

30 for 60

 It's been a long time (16 years, actually) since I started this blog. I turned 59 a week ago, and it feels like it's time for a new set of challenges to start before I turn 60.  This time, instead of a new thing a week, I am going to try to generate a list of 30 challenges to do over a two-year period from now till the end of my 60th year (December 10, 2025 - December 10, 2027). My list is still in formation, but as I did back in 2010, I'm thinking in terms of categories. 

Here's what I have so far:

Creative Challenges:

• Knit a pair mittens
• Make a dried flower wreath from flowers I grow myself
• Take an art class
• Take a non-ballet dance class series

The Intimidating Ones;

• Manage and help do a home improvement project (replacing our back fence)
• Paint a room
• (Re)learn how to change a tire, fix a bike flat and jump start my car
• Take a short course to learn to use spread sheets
• Try skating in hockey skates

Physical Activities:

• Skate a solo in a holiday show (December 13, 2025)
• Pass another skating test 
• Do an international multi-day hike 
• Hike or bike the entire Lamoille Valley Rail Trail
• Do the Hero's Welcome Trifecta: Over 'N Back Trek to Knight Island State Park (winter), Canoe or Kayak to Knight Island State Park (summer), and bike to Hero's Welcome from Burlington (spring, summer or fall)
• Canoe or Kayak to an island on Lake Champlain (that is not Knight Island)
• Hike at least ten fire tower hikes in the Adirondacks (contains 27) and Catskills (contains 5)

Just Because:

• Write the book I keep talking about focused on unconventional home co-ownership, In Search of the Missing Middle
• Do a sister weekend with my sisters, Katrinka and Donna
• Enter something in the county fair
• Take a sign language class
• Organize a volunteer meetup for my Cayuga Court neighbors

Repeats from the Original Year of 52 New Things:

• Hike Camel's Hump in all four seasons
• Return to Cadillac Mountain with Siham and Leah

One Month Challenges

• Give up social media for a month
• Get up before 6 am every day
• At least 45 minutes of yoga daily

As with the Year of 52, the list is a living document, so I'm good with starting with these 26 and adding the rest (with possibly a subtraction or two) as things progress. A lot of the challenges on this list are also harder and will take longer than the challenges in the original blog; they might not all happen, but hopefully it will be a good two-year run!

Just a placeholder

 Just putting in a post to say I'm thinking of starting the blog back up: that's all!

Outdoor Adventure 5: Intervale Cross Country Skiing in the Single Digits

 It’s been really cold this week, giving me a new set of excuses to avoid the great outdoors.  But my friend Michelle and I decided that, whatever temperature it was this morning, we would meet at the Intervale and “ski until we were just too miserable”.  Happily, the miserable part never happened.  Instead, we were reminded that there’s nothing like moving around to warm a person up.

The parking area was surprisingly full of cars when we arrived at 10 am, though we encountered only a handful of people on the trails.  If you want the world’s most hassle-free cross country experience, this is your place.  It’s free, flat and the trails are marked.  You can ski along the Winooski River in parts, or pass by the farms that you visit at farmer’s markets in warmer months. It was a great morning and a great reminder that getting outside doesn’t have to be complicated; you just have to put on lots of layers and head outdoors.

January Catch-Up: Outings 1, 2, 3 and 4

 So, I have to say, my blog-writing for this project is not off to a spectacular start.  I've been a little disappointed in myself, because my adventures so far, have similarly been rather unambitious.  I think it's a combination of things: COVID means I am doing stuff by myself or generally with one other person; my work schedule has been in the way of my January break a lot; and, when push comes to shove I have to admit that I am not in great shape, which is significantly different than in the year of 52.  Must work on converting all these issues from excuses to challenges.

But the good news is that the challenge has gotten me out the door and to some places I would never have gone otherwise, which was exactly the point, so in that sense it's good.  And since I've done a terrible job writing about what I've done so far, I'm going to consolidate it all in one post right here.  So here goes:

1. Back to back hikes for the New Year.  On December 31 my friend Amanda and I finished out all the "Terribles" of 2020 with a micro-spikes-are-non-negotiable hike up to Butler Lodge on Mount Mansfield. There was a fairly impressive (if you're not trying to hike it) length of steep ice in the top one-third, but it was also beautiful and a great way to ring out the old. 

Then on January 1, 2021, Jon and I did a second hike, this time on a trail I've never visited, to Duxbury Window.  This is a small section of Vermont's famed Long Trail, and hiking it felt like a lovely way to welcome a new year and, hopefully, many great changes in store.

2, Cross Country Skiing at Rikert Nordic Center.  A big goal of this year is for me to try out new places I haven't been, and this one fit the bill.  Rikert Nordic Center sits on the Middlebury College's Breadloaf Campus in Ripton, Vermont, an area I have explored very little.  So, if was great to ski on it in the first week of the New Year.  The afternoon reminded me that I am not a great cross country skier, in part, because I hate going downhill and need to get over that.  Maybe this winter will be the time.

3. Afternoon Break Ski at the Burlington Country Club.  So, another hope for this year's round of outdoor challenges is to try to also do things that are easily folded into a workday (that is, to get in the habit of getting outside before, after or even during days I have to work).  Luckily, my friend Kate wanted to help me out with that goal and suggested trying for some lunchtime skiing at the Burlington Country Club Golf Course, which is open for winter recreation and literally out her back door (and has the added bonus of being free).  It was a great way to catch up, get some exercise and be outside.  We agreed we need to do it more often.

4. Visit the Donahue Sea Cave.  This one has been on my bucket list for forever.  I'd heard about the cave, and that you can pretty much only visit it in the winter when the water that surrounds it is frozen, so today was the day I finally did.  I'd highly recommend this one to anyone for a fun little winter pick me up.  The trail is across the road (North Avenue) from the Burlington High School and it's probably less than a quarter mile to the Cave.  There were people skating as well, and though I brought my recreational skates, I decided to save the skating for another day (skating on as many outdoor ice surfaces as possible this winter is another aspiration) because it was so cold I didn't want to have take my hands out of my gloves to lace up my skates.  So, that part another time. 

 

So, not off to a splashy start, but at the same time, the plan is doing what it should - getting me outdoors, trying some new (and old) places with friends and solo, and hopefully I'll only pick up steam as I go,  Onward and upward in 2021.

Outside in Vermont: 52 Outdoor Escapades in 2021

 Maybe the only thing that the entire country agrees upon is that 2020 has been a spectacularly terrible year. The last time I had a truly outstandingly bad year I set up this blog and spent the following year (2010) hitting the reset button with a project I called "52 New Things".  All signs appear to be pointing for another reset year.  That time I set out to do 52 New Things --- one for each week of the year -- encompassing all kinds of categories - new activities (like ice climbing), new places (like Nepal), old things new ways (like hiking Camel's Hump, the most famous Vermont peak, in all four seasons) and bucket list items (like skating in Rockefeller Center).

The plan for 2021 should, I think, be simpler for two reasons.  One is that over ten years later I'm older and my goals are less ambitious.  I am more cognizant now that travel comes at an environmental price, and I am more appreciative of the incredible outdoor opportunities that exist right in my adopted state of Vermont.  The other is COVID.  It may be that a vaccine will lift us all into some form of normality during the coming year, but right now, the safest outlet for recreation here is to be outside, on our own or with our household or with a small number of other masked, socially distant people.  So, those are the parameters I want to embrace for 2021.  My plan is to make sure to visit an outdoor destination in my state and walk, hike, ski, skate, swim, canoe, climb, gaze, learn and appreciate my way through 2021.

One of the most fun things about my 2010 year of new things was that I had two friends, Siham and Leah, who created their own lists with significant crossover for us to embark on adventures together.  And many other friends joined in for one or multiple new thing adventures.  So, if there is an outside destination in Vermont that you've been meaning to get to, how about making 2021 the year?  Here's the working list that I've got going right now, roughly divided by the season I think they are likely going to go in.. Let's make a plan!

WINTER

• Winter hiking (microspike and snowshoe) to classic locations like Camel's Hump and Mount Hunger, and hopefully some new destinations I've wanted to see like Duxbury Window and Skylight Pond.
• Nordic skating on Lake Champlain and/or Lake Morey
• Skating on outdoor rinks and ponds
• Cross country skiing - hoping to try out Craftsbury this year
• Ice climbing - in the "stretch" category, Eben put out the idea of a multipitch...
• Skiing at Bolton with Paul
• Going sledding and/or tubing
• Moonlight winter hike/snowshoe/ski and/or skate
• Another very stretchy maybe - outdoor winter camping
• Snow structures - a snow man, snow fort or snow sculpture
• (If Lake Champlain freezes) - a trek on the ice from Vermont to New York
• Attend a winter bonfire

SPRING (aka Mud Season)

• Visit a maple syrup farm during sugaring season
• Salamander night-time crossing
• Explore some local natural areas that I don't know well including Rock Point Trails and Hubbard Park
• Hike Mount Ascutney, one of the peaks still available to Vermont hikers during mud season
• Visit some historical landmarks I've always meant to check out including the Calvin Coolidge Historic Site and Joseph Smith's birthplace.
• Spend a day visiting covered bridges
• Volunteer picking up litter on earth day and/or on a Green Mountain Club or Crag VT workday
• Plant a garden

SUMMER/FALL

• Hiking, with an emphasis on some new hiking adventures including new places (Quehee Gorge, Mount Equinox, Hogback Mountain, Mount Pisgah, Skyline Trail)
• Section hike a part of the Long Trail
• Go paddling (thanks for the offer, Hannah)
• Stand up paddle boarding
• Bird watching
• Go berry picking
• Go foraging with someone who knows what they are doing
• Biking adventures
• Go snorkeling in a Vermont pond or lake
• Camp in a Vermont State campground
• Cook dinner over a campfire
• Go sailing
• Climb a tree
• Go trail running
• Attend an outside farm dinner

I like to try to do a hike on New Year's Day, so that is likely going to be my first outing of 2021.  With any luck, I'll also get in an outdoor skate early in the New Year.  I've included a picture from skating on Shelburne Pond from almost exactly a year ago for inspiration.  Here's to lots of great outdoor fun in 2021!

 

 

 

July Milestone: First-Ever Skating Competition

Last weekend I had one of those experiences that simultaneously illustrated how far I’ve come and how much further I need to go when I participated in my first-ever competition. I was in the lowest event for adults - Adult Pre Bronze.  This meant I was competing against other adults who can do the most simple single jumps (waltz, salchow, toe loop, and possibly loop and flip) and simple spins. I would say that my greatest bit of improvement this summer has been to get over my fear of jumping. Obviously, my jumps are pretty small anyway, but fear of falling has been holding me back and causing me to hold back to the point of stopping at the entrance of jumps.  About a month ago I realized that I was thinking about improving my jumps rather than avoiding them — a big deal for me.
Watching the video below I see about a million things that I obviously need to improve.  I’d say speed, extension and looking up at the top of the list.  Even so, a year ago I was having trouble doing any of the jumps in this program even from a stand-still, let alone from a skating entrance.  The other great thing was discovering that I actually enjoyed skating the program and have lots of things I’d love to add as I improve. So, here it is, my first program skated in a competition.  Onward!

End of May Check-In

I think one way I am going to try to keep myself disciplined about both skating and blogging is to make a new rule that I have to write at least two posts a month — one forward-looking into my goals and hopes for the coming month and one retrospective at the end of the month to see how I did.  Since it’s the end of the month, I’m switching things up and starting this exercise with a retrospective for the end of the month.  I like lists, so I think that is the way I will organize things at least for this one.
1.  High and low: for this month, they came within ten minutes of each other.  I passed my Fiesta Tango ice dance test about 5 minutes after I failed my Swing Dance ice dance test.

2.  Where I put my energy this month: this is a frustrating month for skaters in my skating circle, because our go-to risk closed down at the beginning of May and won’t reopen till mid-June.  There are other area rinks but they don’t have ice time that is as plentiful or as convenient.  So, I’ve also tried to use the month to start to get back on track with a little bit of running (three times a week at a painfully slow pace) and hiking (once a week for the last couple of weeks).

In terms of skating, for ice dance, there is obviously the Swing Dance to still conquer and particularly my back edges (swing rolls and chasses) to be improved. My coach Russ is letting me dip my toes on the next two dances, the Willow Waltz (which I think looks so pretty) and Ten Fox (which will require the learning of a new turn - the outside Mohawk).

For free skating and moves in the field, moves have pretty much been sidelined for the sake of free skating.  My first program, which performed for the very first time in March, has been upgraded by my coach Melody (more about that in my early June blog post), so that it now has two single jumps (waltz jump and salchow) and two single combinations (waltz jump-toe loop and salchow-toe loop) as well as three “hops” (my term) — mazurka, ballet jump and falling leaf. Getting it all in requires more speed, which is very tricky for me.

3.  Improvements and continuing frustrations: on the frustration category one word: spins!  I have SUCH a hard time with them. Although my jumps might only feel better to me, they are starting to come together better.  I think a huge key for me is learning to actually bend my skating knee in the approach to a jump, rather than scratching to an abrupt halt.  Tons of work to do, but progress. In ice dance, I think turns are starting to improve — Inside Mohawks are going pretty well, outside three turns getting a little less sluggish  and outside mohawks, which I had been terrified to even try, seem within reach if I keep practicing.

Since the goal of this post is just to set a marker for where I am at the end of May, I think this is a good stopping point.  The next will cover what’s coming up, and what i hope to work on (and improve) for the month of June.

Win Some. Lose Some, Keep Going

Something I learned in graduate school is that the most interesting people I’ve encountered in life are usually not the ones who race efficiently from Point A to Point B with no stops or detours.  So, I will try to think of today as an opportunity to become a more interesting skater, since today was my first Official Testing Fail.  One of my big goals for this year was to pass all my Pre-Bronze ice dance tests.  I had already done the first (easiest) one, the Cha Cha in fall 2017.  Today was the big day when I would test the other two — the Swing Dance and the Fiesta Tango.  The good news is that I passed the Fiesta Tango; the bad news is that the Swing Dance and I have some more ground to cover together.

It’s a little ironic because the dance that I passed is the one that intimidated me more.  It has a quick Mohawk turn going into the end pattern that I’ve been working on for months, among other tricky elements.  Today, though, the thing that got me more than anything else was nerves, and it really showed in my first dance, when I didn’t keep time well with my partner (my ever-patient coach Russ), and generally skated the whole pattern in a way that the judges accurately referred to as “sluggish”. 

There’s a Buddhist bit of wisdom that can be reasonably paraphrased to the effect that life’s lessons keep showing up till we learn them.  So for today,  I’ll post the video of the one that came together for me here: 

And here’s the one that will help me become a better person (and better skater) as I work on the lessons of gratitude for challenges — along with better timing and backward swing rolls:

Not what I’d hoped to be recording today, but my goal for this blog is to record it all — the good and the bad, in the hopes of capturing what it’s like to try to improve on a skill taken up later in life. Hopefully this post will help me remember that what doesn’t feel good at the time might make me improve in the long run.

One Down, Two to Go

I've been pretty bad about writing, but a good thing about blogging is that it's always there, waiting to be picked up again.  Back on New Year's Day I set up three goals for the year, and I am excited to say that I've hit the first one.  So, it seems like a great opportunity to record what happened with that first goal, and update on the other two as well.

These were my three big goals for 2018 (in black), and some update on what has happened (in blue):

1. Pass my next two ice dances: Swing Dance and Fiesta Tango, and make some progress on a third, the Willow Waltz.  Been working on the Swing Dance and Fiesta Tango, and am scheduled to take my test for both on May 5. These are the first two ice dances I'm learning that have forward to backward turns in them, and backwards skating elements, so there are lots  of tricky parts to practice over the next three weeks.  

1. Perform my first-ever solo routine.  I’ll be using the song Moon Shadow by Yusuf Islam (formerly Cat Stevens), and it will be a very modest little number.  But it does have three jumps  - a waltz jump, a salchow and toe loop, as well as a one-footed spin, so if I can pull it off, I’ll be thrilled.  DONE!  I skated the Campion Rink Mini-Show on March 31. The vido is below.  It was a very simple little one and a half minute program, but it included some jumps (still more like hops, but it's progress) and my biggest nemesis to date, a one-foot spin. And to my surprise, I really enjoyed doing it.  My hope is to keep working on it to skate it better, and possibly add some more complex elements as I learn them.

1. Become competent at the three easiest elements of the Adult Silver Moves in the Field Test and  start working on the final three hardest elements.  The easier elements are: Consecutive Outside and Inside Forward Spiral Patterns; Forward and Backward Power Pulls; and Forward and Backward Cross Strokes.  The harder ones are Forward Outside - Backward Inside three turns; Forward Inside to Backward Outside three turns; and the 8 Step Mohawk.  This last goal is super-intimidating for me, which is precisely why I’ve broken it in half mentally to start by focusing on the easier part.  We’ll see how I do. Between getting ready for my solo and my ice dances, this one has pretty much been jettisoned.  My coach, Melody, has also been very busy with both her own skating preparation, and that of her other adult student, Leslie.  They both just competed at Adult Nationals and did really well. Leslie earned a Bronze medal in her division and Melody won Gold in hers!  Once I'm done with the dance tests, though, I'll be back to working on these in earnest.

Here are Leslie, our coach Melody and me at the Campion Show after the show was over.

In the weeks to come I am going to try, once again, to get more regular on posting, and since there are so many things I need to work on there's plenty of material to write about.  That's it for now, except to say that I am always excited to go skating with others, so whether it is something you want to try for the first time, or you haven't done in a while, or you do way better than I do, let me know if you want to go, please.  Onward!

All Ice, All Weekend (but no Figure Skating)

I’ve always enjoyed writing, but for the last couple of years, I’ve gotten out of practice.  That’s had all kinds of ramifications, from failure to keep up with blogging to remarkably sluggish turnout of academic papers.  One of the culprits might be my current love of figure skating, because I tend to do that four to five mornings a week, which makes me extremely happy, but as a morning person, this used to be the most productive time of day for me work-wise.  In an effort to become more flexible (I used to not even be able to touch my toes), I’ve also started do a lot more yoga, also in the morning.  What to do?  I came up with an idea, and we’ll see if it works.  I’m using the season of Lent as a way of re-establishing my writing habit.  Since I don’t want to lose my yoga practice, my Lenten resolution is two-fold: every day for the forty days of Lent, I need to do at least 30 minutes of yoga and fifteen minutes of writing.  I did make a special contingency that if I HAVE to miss a day of either or both, I have to “make it up” the next day.  So far, I’ve already had to make up one writing day, but it still definitely is getting me in the mode of thinking each day about writing, and how to fit it in my day.  And so today’s goal was to get back in the swing of blogging, and here I am, typing away.

The next post after this one will be looking at what I’ve done figure skating-wise, since the New Year  began, but for today’s post I thought it would be fun to record the ice events of the weekend which, for a change, had nothing to do with figure skating.  On Saturday, I participated in SMC’s annual women’s only ice climbing day, and Sunday I finally checked off a long-running bucket list goal of participating in the town of North Hero’s Great Ice weekend with the event I’d always wanted to do — skating from the shore across the frozen ice of Lake Champlain to Knight Island.

My friend Paul likes to tell his first year students “Don’t Anticipate, Participate.”  I should have taken his advice this weekend, rather than pre-loading both events with expectations.  I had walked into the women’s ice trip with some trepidation: my friend and fellow student instructor Sophie, who was scheduled to be one of the leaders of the trip had to back out with a broken wrist, and friend and colleague Rai didn’t make it to the sign in on time and had to back out.  Three senior students and friends I had lobbied hard to sign up were going, and I wasn’t feeling particularly competent about the whole thing.  As it turned out, it was a phenomenal day.  The weather was great, the participants — Summer, Victoria and Tova, together with their roommate Roxy and fellow senior Amelia, had such great energy the whole day was a blast.  Best of all, lead instructor Andrea and student instructors Lindsey and Becca were outstanding.

What a great instructor team looks like: Lindsey, Becca and Lead Instructor Andrea

With their support, I climbed the hardest (as in most vertical route) I’ve ever done, and climbed a simpler one with just one ice axe to have the opportunity to work on footing.

Starting at the bottom of the most vertical climb I've ever done.

Andrea caught this shot of a much more tired version of me almost at the top.

Buoyed by my unexpectedly shiny, happy climbing day, I sauntered into Great Ice waaay on the overconfident side.  After all, I skate many more days than I don’t; what could possibly go wrong?  Michelle was as eager to put on some Nordic skates and tackle the rough ice as I was, and Jon was ready to give the recreation pair of regular skates he’d bought last year a go.  But getting on the ice at the shore, it was hard not to notice that, not only was the ice really rough, it had at least a half inch of snow on it all the way across the lake. Jon was the first to decide that skates were not going to work and switched to microspikes over his shoes.  Five minutes in, Michelle followed suit.  Undaunted I was convinced that through sheer force of will I would get the hang of the Nordic skates and stop nearly falling over the toes every time the front of the blade would hit a particularly big bump.  After I got home I looked it up and discovered the crossing was two miles long; it definitely felt like more as I reaped the karmic reward for every time in the last year I glared at a kid on a milk  crate at the rink for nearly running into me. Today, I was that kid again, slowly creeping along on my  Nordic skates while Jon and Michelle tactfully slowed their march to the Island lest I take a nosedive and need them to backtrack and save me.

A victory moment on finally reaching the shore of Knight Island.

With my patient and wiser fellow trekkers, Jon and Michelle before we began the trek back.

When we reached the island I declared victory, drank my hot chocolate that was there to reward all those who made the trek, and having learned my lesson, donned my microspikes for the much-quicker shoreline march.

Although the weekend’s ice activities were different than those I usually blog about, the lessons were painfully familiar: better to put more energy into action and less into expectations (good or bad); good teachers can make or break and experience; and everything is more memorable when you do it with great people. 

New Resolutions for the New Year; How Shall the Skating Grow?

This New Year on the East Coast started off with a decided chill.  The forecast for the entire day was below zero, and with no skating rinks open to come inside and warm up, we just had to make the best of it and do a little hike up Mount Philo, followed by a bit of sledding with some good friends.

Tomorrow, though things start back up for real; Tuesday is figures class, where a group of adult learners work with our teacher, Martha, at the meticulous tracings for which figure skating gets its name.  This aspect of the sport was dropped out of mainstream competition in the 1980s, but a few elements are still required in the tests called Moves in the Field, and there is still a specialized form of competition that is based upon them.  Perhaps more importantly, they are incredibly useful for learning “edges” required for just about everything else one does as a figure skater.

Given that it’s January 1, and that I love to make resolutions (they are, after all, the ultimate to-do list), now seems a useful time to recap what I hope to accomplish in 2018.  Like many of my other to-do lists, much of it is pulled off my 2017 list, but hopefully, the second time is the charm.

Here then, are my three big goals for 2018:

1. Pass my next two ice dances: Swing Dance and Fiesta Tango, and make some progress on a third, the Willow Waltz.  
2. Perform my first-ever solo routine.  I’ll be using the song Moon Shadow by Yusuf Islam (formerly Cat Stevens), and it will be a very modest little number.  But it does have three jumps  - a waltz jump, a salchow and toe loop, as well as a one-footed spin, so if I can pull it off, I’ll be thrilled.  
3. Become competent at the three easiest elements of the Adult Silver Moves in the Field Test and snd start working on the final three hardest elements.  The easier elements are: Consecutive Outside and Inside Forward Spiral Patterms; Forward and Backward Power Pulls; and Forward and Backward Cross Strokes.  The harder ones are Forward Outside - Backward Inside three turns; Forward Inside to Backward Outside three turns; and the 8 Step Mohawk.  This last goal is super-intimidating for me, which is precisely why I’ve broken it in half mentally to start by focusing on the easier part.  We’ll see how I do.

I am sure other skills and goals will surface as the year progresses (the loop jump looms as one possibility; and the ever terrible backward figure eight), but this feels like a good set for now.  Hopefully, there will be lots more posting (with pictures and videos, which are way more interesting) as a way of keeping track in the weeks ahead.  Here’s to another year of skating.  Happy New Year, and as always, let me know if you want to join me at the rink!

Featuring the Protein of the Future: Bug Dinner

On my birthday a couple of weeks ago, I started the blog back up with two commitments for my year as a 51 year-old: to earnestly track my evolution as a figure skater, and to revive, albeit in a smaller way, my commitment to new things.  In the latter category I committed to a New Thing a month, and so this post reports on the first on the list: December’s New Thing, cooking the long-promised Bug Dinner.

Roasted crickets -- served on the side, so that guests could add just the right amount of crunch to their salads.

The idea for whipping up a dinner with bugs as the featured ingredient came from my friend, former student, and almost birthday-twin, Michelle. A strong bucket-lister in her own right, Michelle and I have together taken on various hiking goals in our beloved Green Mountains here in Vermont, service learning in Tanzania, and combating the AIDS epidemic, among other activities.  Michelle’s one of the most imaginative generators of New Thing ideas I know, and we’d been talking about this one for a while.  This year, we took the plunge and scheduled the meal on the day between our birthdays (Michelle was born on December 8 and I on December 10).

Michelle, hard at work on our Cricket Chili.

The greatest challenge, we found, came in sourcing the bugs.  Although theoretically there are a number of types of bugs available — including mealworms and silkworm larvae — by far the most common is crickets, and ultimately that was the mail order option that was most manageable for us. We ordered a pound of cricket meal and a pound of roasted crickets and crossed our fingers that they would arrive in time.
With the crucial bug ingredients ordered we started thinking about the menu, which had an additional twist — one of our guests can’t eat gluten.  This turned out to be not as tough as we expected.  We selected one dish he couldn’t eat — Cheddar-Cricket Biscuits, but the rest of the menu turned out just fine.

Ultimately, we settled for:

• Tossed green salad with roasted crickets
• Cheddar-cricket biscuits
• Cricket chili
• Cricket-topped gluten-free chocolate cupcakes
• And everyone’s favorite, Cricket-Chocolate Clusters

Cheddar-cricket biscuits - with Cabot Very Sharp Cheddar (obviously).

Our guests — 11 total — were good sports.  They tried everything, claimed to like most of it, and everyone agreed that the nicest surprise was the Cricket Clusters, which were very much like Nestle Crunch chocolate bars.  For those still holding out objections, let me try one last time to make the case for Bugs (at least crickets) as the Protein of the Future:

• They’re the perfect paleo food — nothing but protein.
• They’re gluten-free.
• Their water and carbon footprints are ridiculously small for a rich source of protein.
• They’re cruelty-free.  They live a natural life until the day when they are put in a cold place and go into.a form of hibernation (torpor), then are frozen while they sleep.
• Cricket powder is actually pretty versatile (though it’s kind of gritty and gray — food stylists will need to work on that one), and roasted crickets are pretty much all crunch.

So there you have it.  For the person who’s done it all, offer to cook a Bug Dinner! And Michelle’s and my resolution for the coming year of a New Thing a Month is off to a great start.  Now we have to decide what January will bring.

Back on Track with Keeping Track

Birthdays are a great time for taking stock, and in doing that, I realized I’ve let some things slide.  I find it motivating to keep track of goals and projects, but lately, I haven’t been.  So today, I’m recommitting to two things: first, to use this blog to keep track weekly of my skating progress (and struggles), and second to get back into the swing of the spirit of trying new things, which is what I did 52 times in 2010, the year this blog was created.

Therefore, from December 10, 2017 to December 10, 2018 here are my two resolutions:
1. To post on a weekly basis about a specific skill that I’m working on my figure skating
2. Once a month to post about a new thing I’ve done.

To start things off today, I’m taking a look at what has happened in a year — what I’ve accomplished and what I’m currently really struggling with.  So here are The Good and the The Bad.

The Good:

• Passed my Pre-Bronze Free Style Test (in which I proved that I could do forward and backward crossovers, a spiral, a two footed and one-footed spin, and a waltz jump and salchow (at very simple levels).

• Passed my first Pre-Bronze Ice Dance Test, the Cha Cha.
• Started working on my first, very simple solo program.  I’ll be skating it to the Cat Stevens song Moon Shadow.
• Started working on the easiest skills for my Silver Moves in the Field Test — forward outside and inside spirals, forward and backward power pulls and forward and backward cross strokes.

The Bad:

• Spins!  For some reason, I am extremely challenged by spinning.  For my free style test I was able to eke out 3 rotations of a one-footed spin, but since I bought my new skates, I seem to have regressed backwards.  This feels like my biggest current block.
• Jumps.  I am starting to be able to do the three simplest jumps — waltz jump, salchow and toe loop, but still have extreme difficult doing them with any speed or getting higher than a little hop in the air.  Starting to work on foot position for a loop jump as well, but that one is going to be a very long process.
• Turns at speed in ice dancing. The next two ice dances I am learning, the Swing Dance and the Fiesta Tango, both require a turn called a Mohawk in going from forward to backward.  I have a lot of trouble especially on the Fiesta Tango, doing the turn quickly enough and going into the next position well.
• Backward edges.  In figures class, I am working on my backward figure eight.  That means I have to hold a backward edge for the entire length of a circle, and I am nowhere near that level of balance, control or speed at the moment.

So now my plan is to report on a skill a week that I am working on — ideally alternating between ones I’m making good progress with, and ones on which I am struggling mightily.  For this week, since today was my birthday, I decided to give myself a little present and start with my favorite skill to work on as a warm-up, forward outside swing rolls. I love the way they feel when they are going well.  My friend Laura is a fellow professor at Saint Mike’s and a fellow adult skater.  She kindly filmed both my forward and backward outside swing rolls below.

Here are the forward ones:

And here is backwards:

In both cases, I need to do a better job of looking up, of fully extending my free (non skating) leg behind and forward, and of pre-bending my knee and ankle before stepping on to the new edge.  But from a control perspective, both have improved a lot. Swing rolls are a key component of ice dance (at least the easier ones that I am learning), so I am happy that these are getting better.

Coming up:

• Yesterday my friend Michelle and I completed December’s New Thing — cooking with bugs.  Michelle’s birthday was Friday and mine is today, so we hosted a combination birthday dinner featuring roasted crickets and cricket powder. Blog posted coming shortly!
• Holiday show next Saturday! My “home rink”, Leddy Park, hosts a holiday skating show every year, so next Saturday at 3 pm, the Ladies of Leddy (adult skaters) will be doing our holiday number — Christmas Tango on Ice.  Film to follow next week. 
• This week I’ll be skating Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and possibly Saturday or Sunday, mostly during public skating sessions — let me know if you feel like joining in!

When Backwards Is Forwards

In charting my painfully slow progression towards greater figure skating proficiency I was reminded of something I knew going into this year, namely that in 2017, in order to go forward, I need to learn to go backwards. People who don't skate much may not realize it, but ice skating is all about learning to control your movement on the edges of your blades.  When people first start, they're pretty focused on simply staying upright, and that creates the impression that the key to success is to be centered right on the blade.  But in fact, that's actually skating on "flats".  In order to do almost all the things that figure skaters do -- like crossovers and turns and jumps and spins (the fun stuff) -- a skater has to learn to skate on edges.  The blades have inside edges and outside edges.  Leaning onto them makes the skater move in patterns that are actually circular (or half-circles, known as "lobes").  So the skater learns to skate on both outside and inside edges on both feet, and then adds on additional moves (like turns and jumps) while skating on these edges.

And then there is another complication: learning to do the same things going backwards. All of us have spent the time since we learned how to walk going forward.  We know how to move in that direction -- where to move our feet, where to look, how to stop.  Going backwards is not something we do often; it feels strange; and of course, it is much scarier because we don't have eyes in the backs of our heads.  But much of the challenge of learning to figure skate is that you have to learn to do things in many different directions -- left and right, inside and outside and forward and backward.

The two major goals I'm working on both entail a lot of work on backwards skating in different ways.  First, I'm trying to get ready for my Adult Pre-Bronze Free Skate Test.  This is the official name for the very first, most elementary free style test.  In order to pass it, I will need to demonstrate that I can do the following:

• forward and backward crossovers
• two different half rotation jumps - I will be doing the easiest jump, the Waltz Jump, and probably the Salchow
• a two-footed spin with at least 3 rotations
• a one-footed spin with at least 3 rotations
• either a forward spiral or a lunge (I'll do a spiral). Spirals are those pretty, Arabesque-looking moves that figure skaters do.

My other major goal of the moment is my next two ice dances -- the Swing Dance and the Fiesta Tango. Although these two dances are in the same Pre-Bronze category as one that I tested on successfully in March -- the Cha Cha -- I find they are much harder because they are the first two dances that I have encountered that involve switching from forward to backward -- and back again -- during the dance.  The switching is done mainly through a type of turn called a Mohawk that, if not done correctly, can cause the skater to step on the back of her own blade (I speak from experience), and so can feel fairly nerve-wracking.

As I've noted before, one of the unadvertised benefits of becoming an adult figure skater is joining the community of really wonderful fellow adult skaters, most of whom I would never have become friends with otherwise.  Today I got to do part of my practice with my good friend Patsy, who is a far more accomplished skater, and especially, ice dancer, than me.  We decided to work on some back swing rolls and chasses.  As you can see, her extension, the deepness of her edges (the "lobe" she is tracing) and her ability to keep her free leg straight are all way better than mine.  Also, I must learn to look up, rather than at my feet. But if you want to improve, practice with someone better than you, right?  At this time last year, I was still just trying not fall when I tried them.

Here are Patsy and I doing back swing rolls:

And here are back chasses:

Although today, Patsy and I did a lot of back edges and some spirals, in general right now when I practice on the ice, I'm focusing pretty heavily on my jumps (which are really more like hops, but hey, it's a process); my spins (especially the one-footed, which often isn't at the necessary bare-minimum three rotations); and the elements that I find most difficult in the ice dances I'm working on -- backward swing rolls; backward "progressives"; and forward-to-backward 3-turns and Mohawks.  When I finally learn them, there will be a whole host of new backward skills to learn, including backward cross strokes, backward power pulls and -- most dreaded of all -- the terrifying backward 3-turn.  But those are all a ways off, and it is simultaneously helpful and humbling to remember that I have seen children in elementary school who have learned all of them.  For now, I continue the long march towards progress -- by trying my best to go backwards.

Toria, We're Going to Miss You

There are lots of challenges I didn't think about when I started taking figure skating lessons several years ago -- the expense, the incredibly slow pace of progress, the sheer work it takes to master a skill that others make look so easy.  But on the plus side, one of things I also didn't bargain for was gaining a whole new set of friends.  With the very significant exception of my friend and colleague, Laura -- with whom I compare notes regularly and practice off-ice jumps in the hallway to the great amusement of our colleagues and students -- my ice skating hobby has yielded a wealth of new friends I would very likely not have crossed paths with otherwise.

One such friend is Toria, who skated on the University of Vermont skating team, and also majored in physics while she was an undergrad there.  To the good fortune of the Leddy Arena skating community, she stayed in Burlington the year after she graduated, and, among other things, helped run the skating programs for younger skaters.  During that year she also became a regular on our Tuesday night rock climbing adventures at Petra Cliffs climbing gym, and pursued a love of all cats, and of her own Arthur in particular that was so highly contagious I see her as more than a little responsible for the fact that I recently adopted Cat One from another of our mutual skating friends, Jackye.

Sadly for her Leddy crew (and Burlington friends generally) but happily for her boyfriend Sam, and the University of Lowell, Toria is leaving us.  She has been accepted into a graduate program in medical physics, and will be applying her 24-karat intellect to a new course of study.  We'll do our best to lure her back from time to time, but for now, as part of her sendoff, I put together a list of a few of the things about Toria I will miss the most:
1. Her uniquely dramatic landings (lying on her back) when being lowered from a tiring climbing route.
2.  Her amazing hair -- platinum blond, blue and purple.
3.  Her awesome sense of style.  Here for instance, she and Jackye model the crazy cat lady sweaters they wore to my birthday-on-ice party this year.

That's Toria on the left rocking the Christmas cat sweater.

4.  Her incredible skating.  Here are two of her of her favorite things to do on skates.  The first, her split leap, is in all her programs, and the second, her layback spin, is one she has been working on this year.

5.  And finally, perhaps the thing we will all miss the most is Toria's friendly, open and encouraging personality.  In a world that sometimes has a reputation for being snobbish and competitive, Toria always made being at the rink fun -- for everyone.  She will be deeply missed. Good luck in the next chapter, Toria, and thank you so much for your friendship, on-ice encouragement and great sense of fun and adventure; come back and visit and skate with us often!

Whatever Works: Books, and Videos

The year I started this blog, 2010, I had a project that required lots of discipline around time.  That year I did a new thing every week for a year -- 52 in all -- which also meant that I did at least one entry every week.  Having that level of accountability kept me on track, and this time is much harder. So, I'm trying a couple of new things, namely a book (my skating journal) and some videoing.

Like most of my good ideas, these ideas aren't really mine at all.  The journal was my friend Jackye's and the videoing was Melody's.  Almost exactly a year ago I went around to various skaters -- all of them much better than me -- to ask their advice on how to improve.  From Annie I learned that I needed to make the commitment to skate at least three times a week; Joe told me to embrace the parts that scare me most and tell myself that actually I like them; one of my coaches, Melody, told me to look up and work on having "ta-dah!" posture; and Jackye told me to keep a journal and to pick one or two things to focus on each week (like looking up, bending my knees more or better posture).   After a particularly discouraging lesson a few weeks ago Melody shared a video with me made by a skater who tracked her progress on some jumps and spins over a five-year period.  It was inspiring to see how far she came, and made me decide that, frustrated as I may feel now, hopefully someday, I too will have progress to show and will wish for a baseline to compare it with.  So, I am going to start trying to use my journal to chart regularly what it is I am working particularly hard on, and hopefully also some video to show how it's going.

Right now, in ice dance, I'm working on two dances in the "Pre-Bronze" sequence -- the Swing Dance and and the Fiesta Tango.  They introduce some new skills I've still got a long way to go on -- like backward swing rolls, outside three turns, and mohawk turns at the same time with a partner.  Hopefully at a later point I'll be write another post about those, and maybe some video to show what they are.

In the Free Skate realm I am definitely moving much, much more slowly than I would like.  I had hoped to take my first test -- the Pre-Bronze Free Skate --in early  May, but I won't be ready.  The test includes two-footed and one-footed spins (the former I could probably pass, the latter, I couldn't) and two jumps.  For the jumps I'll be doing the very simplest jump -- the waltz jump -- and a second jump -- either a Salchow or toe loop.  With some trepidation, I'm posting this video that was taken last week(and hoping that a few months from now, will post another that is appreciably faster, higher and more fully rotated).  But everyone starts somewhere, so here is step one in the quest to learn to jump and spin.

Learning to Skate and Learning to Wait: Who Knew They Were So Connected?

There were some things I knew, or strongly suspected, when I started working on figure skating in my late forties.  I'd need to try to get more flexible (when I started I couldn't even touch my toes); obviously, I'd have to work on balance; and I'd need to carve out time to practice.  But what I didn't know is this: if you want to become an adult skater, you'd better either have reams of, or be willing to work on, the personal attributes of patience and courage.  Patience because there are a whole lot of new skills to learn, and they don't come quickly, especially for adult skaters.  And courage because that ice is hard, and if you were never a daredevil climb-on-everything and go-as-fast-as-you-could kid (I was definitely not) the prospect of jumping, and even going faster than your comfort zone is scary. So, the understanding that has taken quite some time to get past the denial of my brain is that, if I am going to keep progressing in this hobby I've chosen, I need to also accept the fact that I am always going to have to work twice as hard to progress half as fast as I might have forty years ago.  But it's still worth it.

I've been a lot less regular about posting on my skating progress than I meant to be, and that is largely a function of the fact that progress is going so sloooowly (see note above about patience).  But since the year is a third over, I think it's time to assess where things are at, so here goes.  I have three areas where I'm trying to improve this year, and only in one of them (ice dance) do I have anything tangible to show for my efforts.  But I like to think that at least I'm developing character, so here's where things are at right now.

1. Ice Dance: my one clear piece of progress: passed my fourth dance test (the Cha Cha)!  Now I've moved on to start work on two that feel a lot harder --  Swing Dance and Fiesta Tango.  The Cha Cha was the last of the dance patterns that goes only forward; the two I am working on now are skated partly going forward and partly going backward, and the transitions between the two (with a partner in tow) are a new skill to learn in themselves.  Still, I was excited to have passed the Cha Cha and happily, here's the video to show for it. For testing, you dance the pattern twice, and at least at this very low level you can do it on your own or as I have here, with my ever-patient ice dance coach, Russ.

2. Free Skate: The first Adult free skate test Pre-Bronze Free Skate) is a simple affair: two jumps of 1/2 to one rotation; a two-footed spin; a one foot spin, forward and backward crossover and either a spiral or a lunge.  The simplicity is made even simpler by the fact that I passed two of these elements (crossovers and spiral) over two years in ago in a Pre-Bronze Moves in the Field Test.  Yet I'm stuck.  My first jump (a Waltz jump) is more like a hop, and on my second (Toe Loop), I fail to actually make the jump (hop) about half the time.  Spins are only slightly better.  Each has to have at least three rotations, which isn't a problem for my two-footed spin, but definitely still is on one foot. I think the spin will come with more practice (that is, patience), but the jumps have me more frustrated.  Jumping on ice just scares me, and I need to figure out what to do about that to get past this place where I'm basically stalled out.

3.  Moves in the Field: This is the place, where on paper, I had advanced the most, but now my progress is on hold. This is true for two reasons.  First,  I have to catch up a little in the other two areas, and second, the next test, the Adult Silver Moves in the Field is really, really past my abilities.  Every single move on it feels very challenging. My initial hope was to start with some of the less daunting parts like cross strokes and power pulls and spirals, and save the really hard Mohawk sequence and forward and backward three-turn parts for later, but until I get some progress on the very simple jumps and spins I am trying to learn, that's where most of my lesson and practice time and energy is going.

So bottom line, progress is going much slower than I would like, but at least it's going. Happily, my coaches, Melody and Russ, are both unfailingly patient and encouraging so there's that. Hopefully in August I'll be able to take my first Adult Free Skate test, and at least one of my next ice dances.  And in the meantime, I'll keep chipping away, and writing about, hopefully both on a more regular schedule.

New Year: Time to Break Out the Star Chart

When I was a kid I loved star charts.  When we were little my mom made star charts for us for all those little-kid habits she wanted us to develop, like brushing our teeth and making our beds.  And my favorite thing was getting to put my foil stars on the chart when I did what I was supposed to.  As an adult they gradually morphed into to-do lists, that allowed me to revel in crossing off items (though I almost never have gotten through an entire one).  But I have to admit that, even today, when I have a habit or practice that I know I should do but just can't seem to cultivate, my personal nuclear option is the tried-and-true star chart.  Now that I have turned fifty I have decided to stop fighting this leftover vestige of childhood and use it.  And my coach, Melody, has happily complied, by providing me with a new and ambitious regimen for skating practice.  It's actually aspirational, in that there are things on the list I can't do at all, and much of the list is comprised of things I do poorly.  But you have to start somewhere, and this list is it.  We started this morning during an hour-long lesson, and I am supposed to try to do it every practice session I do.

Melody wisely got me inspired to take on my new and ambitious (for me) regimen by taking me over to Lake Placid with her other adult student, Leslie, to skate in the Olympic complex there and watch some former world champions perform.  Here we are at the rink.

Here's the list, in all its color-coded glory (purple is stuff I can at least nominally do and/or have passed a test on at some point; green are things that I've started working on; and red are things that I have thus far been too terrified or skills-deficit to even attempt).

Warm-Up

• Forward & backward alternating crossovers
•  Backward inside & outside consecutive edges (I passed a test on these, but if the judge who passed me could have seen me today, she might have retrospectively failed me)
•  Landing position drill   x 5

Further Skills

• Cross rolls (forward & backward)
•  Power pulls (forward & backward)
•  Three turns (outside forward, inside forward & outside backward, inside backward)
•  Mohawks (inside & outside )
• Five Step Mohawk Sequence
• Backward snowplow stops (two foot and one foot)   
• Forward T-stops  (left and right)
• Spirals (forward straight line plus inside and outside edges)
• Spirals (backward straight line plus inside and outside edges)
• Lunges (both legs)
• Bunny hops (left & right)
•  Spins (1 & 2 foot)  x 10 each
•  Waltz jumps   x 10
•  Salchows  x 10
•  Toe loops  x 10
•  Loop jump prep at the wall   x 5
• Pre-Bronze Freestyle test routine  x 2

During today's lesson two of my major obstacles showed up uninvited but vociferously -- my problems with right knee and my fear of falling, especially when jumping.  We started off working on back edges (that is,  skating on one foot going backward leaning to the outside or inside of the blade to go in alternating half circles) and then power pulls.  Then, because my right knee was really acting up we skipped working on spinning (which I do on my right leg) to work on toe loops and introduce loop jumps. 

We were skating during a public session that just kept getting more and more crowded, so after the lesson was over, trying to work on backwards skating with the kids darting around pushing milk crates seemed like a very bad idea. So, not many stars for today. But, the process has begun, and I have a list with which to chart my progress - which I think I will try to do monthly.  Here's hoping for lots of foil stars in 2017!

Winter's Work: Gearing Up for March 11

In skating terms, December has clearly been the most wonderful time of the year.  For the fourth year in a row, I got to join my friends in a fun group number at Leddy Park Holiday skating show.  The first time, four years ago, I had just started taking group lessons. Our group searched high and low for the tackiest holiday sweaters we could find, and I struggled to keep upright through the number. This year we were Blues Brothers skating part of the Rhythm Blues ice dance as part of our performance.  Big fun, but alas, our unofficial videographer, Jon, had technical difficulties, so no video record of our performance.

The Blues Borthers (Patsy, Anya, Donna, Russ, Melody, me and Mary) take to the ice.

The other big December skating highlight was a week earlier on my birthday.  Blatantly stealing from my wonderful skating friend Patsy, I copied her idea from a few years ago and rented out the Leddy rink for a Birthday on Ice.  It was awesome.  Some of my skating friends were in the middle practicing fancy jumps and spins and others took to the ice for the first time since childhood, or for a few, the first time ever.

Jon's contribution to my skating goals are manifold: attending my(and my skating friends') tests and performances; taking pictures and videos of the same; and at least once a year getting on the ice. On my birthday he donned a magical no-falling hat and took to the ice.

Four of my skating friends (all of them light-years ahead of me): Jackye, Sharie, Melody (who is also one of my coaches), and Toria.

Siham got Best Sport award for trying skating for the first time ever.  Here, Crystal and Julia offer a helping hand.

Now as the year is coming to a close, my sights are on 2017, and the goals I've set for the year between December 10, 2016 and December 10, 2017.  I set a whole bunch of goals, but there are some obstacles in the way.  First, there is my right knee, which seems not to have gotten the message that it needs to be on its best behavior, and full range of motion right now.  I'v started seeing a physical therapist a week ago for that one; here's hoping that it works.  Then there is another major obstacle that will strike in late March.  Every year the Leddy Park Rink closes for about six weeks in May and June, and there is a scramble to find substitute ice.  But this year, the year I've committed to put such a focus on skating, it will be closed for April, May AND June.  Gonna need to do some serious planning to figure out ice time at other area rinks. And finally, there is one that is all my own -- my own fear.  I am way too afraid of falling, particularly when jumping.  It's just a reality that getting better involves a fair amount of falling, and I just need to get over it and take some falls.

So, keeping these obstacles in mind, my next big goal date is Saturday, March 11, 2017.  The way that many skaters progress is through a series of tests.  Since I'm an adult, I get to test in the easier Adult Series, rather than the Standard Track used for kids and teenagers. Right now I'm working on three tests: my Pre-Bronze Ice Dances (there are three of them, and the easiest of the three is the Cha Cha); my Pre-Bronze Free Skate; and my Silver Moves in the Field (this one I've only barely started and will be working on for a very long time, probably well past this year). The March 11 test is the only one set between now and June, or possibly July or August, so I hope to use it.  My hope is to test the Cha Cha Ice Dance and my Pre-Bronze Free Skate.  The Free Skate test includes the following elements: forwards and backwards crossovers; a spiral or lunge, two half or single jumps and two spins -- two footed and one-footed.  The big question is whether I will have two jumps and two spins ready in time, but my coach, Melody, is optimistic.  I'll have to make a decision in a few weeks on whether to apply to test, so will make the final decision then.  In the meantime, right now I'm writing from Virginia and having a one-week hiatus from skating.  Once I'm back in Vermont, I'll head back to the ice and see where I am skating-wise.

For anyone in Vermont looking to do some skating this winter, here are three invitations I'll throw out right now:

Skating is definitely a more-the-merrier pursuit.  Here's the crew that laced up for Birthday on Ice.  The winter has just begun, and skating opportunities abound now!

1. The outdoor rink outside the statehouse in Montpelier!  This is an awesome new initiative this year, and I can't wait to try it out.  If you want to as well, let me know.  Let's make a date and get a bunch of people together to go.
2. Nordic skating on Lake Morey.  Did this a couple years ago with some friends, and it was awesome. Nordic skating is very different than figure skating, but very fun, and the long blades that you put on cross country ski boots glide right over bumps and cracks in the ice.  Assuming the lake freezing this year, who wants to go.
3. Public skating sessions at Leddy and Cairns.  I do a lot of practice skating on early morning ice at Leddy, and Friday mornings in Waterbury.  But Leddy has public ice from 9-11 am M-Th, and 2:15-4 on Sundays, and Cairns has ice from 10-12:30 T-F, 2:40-4:10 on Saturdays and 1-2:30 on Sundays.  While I do unfortunately have a slight complication in the form of work on most of the weekdays (though Monday and Wednesdays are more workable), the weekends are a possibility. So, if people want to set up some skating plans, please let me know!