Sally's Journal

God, I love December.

It began today with my visit to the Somerset House Ice Rink (see above) with my sisters + brother-in-law to be.

As a skating experience, it was kinda mediocre. The rink was very small, and so felt a bit cramped, and had many many people on it. Because of the latter, the people making the rink sweep it clean with fresh water every hour, betwen sessions, so the ice shifts from slick, wet and very slippery (at the start of the session) to massively churned up, rough and slushy (at the end of the session). The crowd on the ice included huge numbers of incredibly unsteady skaters, who seemed determined to hurl themselves beneath my blades, which left me really nervous.

As a Christmas experience, it was glorious. Skating outdoors is wonderful, and the environment is heavenly. The lights, the smells of mulled wine and the Christmassy music - it was just glorious.

I went with my two sisters and future-brother-in-law who proved to be a scarily good skater - one of those men who can skate sideways, whilst going backwards, before pulling up from high speed to stationary in 10 seconds and a spray of ice. Youngest Sister hadn't skated in years, but picked it up quickly, saying cheerily "this is a lot like cross country skiing". Middle Sister hadn't been on the ice since breaking her wrist a while ago, but we actually got her to go round a couple of times, with future-brother-in-law and I holding each of her hands.

Afterwards, there was hot chocolate and then we went for dinner.

I'm home now, warm and comfortable, and in a fantastically good mood. It was a magical magical evening.

Tonight at the ice rink I got approached by one of the girls who works there and asked if I'd be interested in joining an all girl ice dancing team!

I'm actually feeling really bouncy about this. I never think of myself as that good. I mean, I go skating, I bounce around the rink, but then I see some of the really good skaters there - the ones who can do back flips on the ice, or the ice hockey boys who swoop past me, leaving a stiff wind and a spray of ice in their wake, and I just feel terribly inept. But apparently I don't look that bad from the outside.

The group in question are called the Pink Ladies, and are an all girl figure skating troupe, mostly doing synchronised stuff, and a bit of ice dancing. It's not terribly advanced stuff - they are just hoping to get good enough for some local competitions by the summer and have some fun - but it would be good for me, and it does sound nice.

I need to tighten up a bit on some of my skating - my crossovers in particular are kinda wobbly (mostly because I don't ever practice them) - so I need to put some proper work in over the next few weeks, but I'm hoping that I can maybe make a go of this come the New Year.

I don't know if I will be good enough when I actually turn up. I don't know if I'll be able to be reliable enough, or if I'll have the time, but I think the fact that the lass in question asked me if I'd be interested after watching me skating just makes me feel so much better about myself on the ice.

Now, I just need to sort these crossovers out.*

* And I know that I ought to be able to do crossovers. I know they are not exactly highly advanced. But I don't like them!

I had a really nice evening's skating with molez. It was an ice disco at Streatham tonight, and a couple of the instructors were there and really showing off, leading up to one of them doing a cartwheel on ice.

I also realized how much more comfortable I've gotten on the ice since I started skating again. This evening Andy was dragging me along at high speeds, and at one point pushing me along as fast as he could skate (and he skates faster than me as he has ice hockey skates, and I skate with figure skates) whilst I made choo choo train noises and gestures with my arm. I was perfectly comfortable being hauled around on the ice, which I wouldn't have been at all a few months ago.

The other thing I realized was that one of the things I love about ice skating is the way I never feel icky and sweaty. Well, I do. After an hour of solid skating tonight, I know I had a thin trickle of sweat running down my back, and my heart rate was definitely up, but I didn't feel icky and hot and flushed. Rather, I still felt cool, with the air around me feeling crisp and clean. Gyms smell of sweat and human flesh. Ice rinks always smell clean and clear, and make me feel like I am too. Stealth exercise at its finest.

Then I came home and showered.

Believe me, it was for the best.

I'm due to go skating again this weekend. This makes me happy. I really must drag some of the rest of you guys along soon. It's honestly a lovely way to spend an hour or so, you know...

Today was a good ice skating lesson.

In fact, it was a thing of loveliness.

I skated for an hour and a half, including a half hour lesson, and worked myself hard enough that I got off the ice feeling sweaty, and with my feet cramping up so badly I could hardly walk. I also now have a certificate from Paulette (my wonderful trainer) that says I have reached the level I last reached at the age of 11.

I am, now, as good as my pre-pubescent self was at figure skating.

This still makes me happy.

I was also pondering, as I skated round, how very happy ice skating does make it. I'm not sure why. I just know that there is no angst or sturm or drang which doesn't seem to fade on the ice, leaving me feeling cool and clean. I'm just always calm and happy at the end of a skating session.

I think it's because ice skating is both a little bit detached from my real life - no one can call me, or message me, or poke me when I'm skating - and is also one of the few things I do which is solely mine. There are no expectations of me when I ice skate. I can't negatively affect other people if I do badly. There's no necessity for me to do well. If I don't turn up, no one will care except me. And when I do well, it is something which is a pleasure for me alone. There's no reason why I need to be able to skate. But it's lovely when I can, and it's lovelier for being this thing that I can hug to myself and treasure as my own.

If that makes any sense.

In other good news, I had a lovely package from Nomad Clothing arrive in the post today, and I've also watched another episode of Primeval: Season 2.

It's not a bad world. Not really.

molez and I are going skating on Sunday morning. We don't have lessons, and will just be going to float gracefully around the ice, like little frosty swans.

Would anyone else like to come?

We are both not very good, but are good enough to get around the ice, and possibly hold up others if they need support. It is lots of fun and costs under a tenner.

We'll be going to Streatham Ice Rink if anyone wants to come along.

So, today was the first of the series of private skating lessons that the ever charming, lovely, suave and handsome molez got me for my birthday.

And lo! It went well.

( Lots of rambling about ice skating )