We’re still stuck in an ugly day routine. Last night it rained. Today is still cloudy and damp but a bit warmer at 44˚. I have to go out for a few cans of dog food. It will be difficult. I am in total sloth mode. I have been sitting here just staring at the monitor for days, okay for hours at least. It just sits there and so do I.

When I was a kid, Christmas vacation fun depended on the weather. Rain was the worst. I’d be stuck inside with everybody else. When it was cold but pleasant, I’d ice skate. When I was little, I went to the swamp. It was a short walk through the woods from my house. The front of the swamp was open water and the best place to skate. We were there during the day. The bigger boys, the high school boys, took over in the late afternoon and played hockey. They sometimes had a bonfire right beside the water. When I was older, I’d walk to Recreation Park to the rink which the town put up every winter on the field. I’d carry my skates on my shoulder and walk to the rink with my friends. We chatted the whole way. I really liked skating at Recreation Park. The shed had a wood burning stove. It smelled amazing. The aroma wafted all over the rink and field.

It was at the park where I taught myself to skate backwards. At first I went really slowly, no gliding, mostly steps. In a while I could glide backwards, but I had to keep looking so I wouldn’t hit the wall or another skater. I got good at backwards. It was my one and only skating maneuver.

If we had money, we’d take the bus to the MDC rink. It had a heated area with benches and a refreshment stand and rinks outside, concrete rinks. It was always the best ice but it wasn’t as much fun. It was never haphazard.

I liked skating at the park best of all. I remember skating all afternoon. When it was time to go home, my feet had stopped recognizing shoes. My ankles hurt, my toes were a bit numb and my feet were tingly. It was a strange, funny feeling which wore off the more I walked, the closer to home I got. By the time I got home it was like I had never been skating at all.