Outdoor Ice Skating

When I was a kid, we would go ice skating in the winter time at The Winter Club. It was a magical place. Family night was on Sundays and my dad would take us skating. There was a hot chocolate machine and even family dinner nights. General skating nights were the best, especially when we got dropped off, no parents...I had my first boyfriend experience at the Winter Club. There was always a fire roaring in the warming room; Michael Jackson singing "One Bad Apple" over the PA system. I could have lived there.
Fast forward 35 or 40 years. I am at the Winter Lodge (same place; new name), breathing in the air that smells exactly the same, feeling the cold on my face. My sweet daughter is on the ice with a few of her friends, skating away under a cloudy sky, complete with falling snow from the snow machine. She has been skating since first grade. We were re introduced to this place in Kindergarten when the mom of identical twins in her class had all the kids in her class come to a skating party. Their mom is the Executive Director of The Winter Lodge. Cool.
So on this particular day, Emily is out skating with the whole rink open for just these few friends-they were doing a photo shoot for the rink's website and also some local papers/ magazines. How fun is that-the empty rink all to themselves!! I was envious and also so grateful that she gets to have that feeling I remember so well-gliding on the ice, cold breeze in my hair, having an absolute blast.


Double click on this last picture to really see the snow!