Skating Has Always Been in my Blood

Valentine’s Day hello from chilly South Deerfield. Tonight we are going on a skating date and to a new cocktail bar called the Balkan Lounge in Greenfield.

Today I’m continuing the roll I’ve been on since the beginning of 2020.  I started by doing what everyone says they’ll do after a new year clicks in….join the gym.

Well, I did join and I’ve been going to three classes per week doing exercises with weights. It feels so good, it takes just 50 minutes, and all in all, I couldn’t be happier about this.

Today is one of those days where I have to make an attempt to get things sorted ahead of time. You know it’s one of those obligation holidays, and whether you want to or not you are going to fulfill those obligations, or leave someone unhappy.

I am glad that I planned a fun date for tonight, a simple one involving a new cocktail bar and some ice skating at the local rink.

Fun, kind of retro, and a good way to share a celebration that we are a couple and that we have each other to muddle through the dark in this life.

This is February, the cruelest and coldest month, and the wind outside is howling. I heard from my electrician what it’s like to work outdoors in this cold, it chills you and makes you suffer.  Outdoor workers this time of year I think have it tough.

My life has included ice skates for many years. When we were growing up in Blawenburg, we used to go down to the Institute Lake, a manmade pond that had a dam at one end.

It also had a long creek you could skate on that fed the lake. We always had to wait until Dr. Martin, a shrink who worked at the Institute, had gone out on the ice and checked it for safety.  Without the doc’s sign off no one could skate.

But after he checked the thickness with a hardware store yardstick, he would put up the white flag, which meant we were all allowed to skate on the pond.

My dad once skated up the creek and fell in up to his waist!  I remember he had an old pair of skates that sort of just fell apart one day. He used to be a hockey player, as I did when I was in school.

I look forward to tonight’s Valentine’s date, on skates.