 |
| My ice skates. |
Growing up in Southwest Alabama, a youngster just doesn’t
get many opportunities to ice skate. Ice skating falls into the realm of things
done elsewhere, like surfing and riding camels. With that said, ice-skating has
always been something that I’ve wanted to try, which is why I added it to my
very first, official bucket list several years ago.
Fast forward to last week when my family and me paid a visit
to my sister and brother-in-law in Athens, Ala., which is just outside of
Huntsville. On the third day of our visit, we decided to go to Huntsville
Iceplex on Leeman Ferry Road in Huntsville. On the surface, the purpose of this
trip was to let the kids ice skate, but I was also looking forward to it as
well.
At first, I was pleasantly surprised by how relatively inexpensive the
trip turned out to be. Public skating, including skates and one plastic “helper” (kind of
like an old person’s walker for beginning skaters), was $3 for children five
and younger and $7 for everyone else. Grand total for our little group was just $24.
After we paid to get in, we had to go get our skates. This
reminded me a lot of my old roller-skating days, way back in the glory days of fourth-grade. Basically you just give the
guy behind the counter your shoe size and he hands you a pair of skates that
have used over and over again by countless strangers. The presumption is that
they receive a healthy dose of antibacterial spray between sessions.
Before putting them on, I examined my skates closely and
realized that in a few minutes two very thin blades of metal would be supporting my
entire body weight. The idea seemed preposterous, but I knew it was possible because I
only had to look around to see small children walking around on skates like it
was no big deal. I slipped on my skates and was pleasantly surprised to find
that it wasn’t as hard to walk in them as I first thought.
Our little group of novice skaters made our way down to the
ice, and I was immediately struck by the huge difference in temperature between
the lobby and the ice rink. The sensation would
eventually fade because as I learned later, ice-skating is strenuous exercise
and you will work up a sweat, no matter how high they turn up the AC.
My efforts to ice skate were pretty sad, and I suspect
someone watching me skate for the first time would have looked away quickly,
trying not to notice the almost-forty guy who apparently has little athletic
ability and no sense of balance. I vowed to remain on the ice for
an hour, to get the full experience and to get my money’s worth. During that
time, I took several falls that would have killed an elderly person, but before
it was over, I began to pick it up, somewhat.
My feeling is that with a few more visits to the Iceplex I
could have become a very competent ice skater, but professional
hockey probably isn't in my immediate future. Despite the pain of hitting the floor and having to endure the
laughter of small children who could skate circles around me, I did enjoy ice-skating
and would have not problem doing it again someday. If you’ve never tried it, I
highly recommend it. It’s fun.
In the end, how many of you have ever ice-skated? What did
you think about it? Did you like it or not? Let us know in the comments section
below.
No comments:
Post a Comment