If I Knew How to Skate...

Watching the women’s gold medal hockey game (USA should have won, damn it!) made me realize something: if I had known about the sport, I would have loved to play ice hockey when I was younger. Of course, that meant learning to ice skate, too. It’s all about having the correct footwear, right? I mean, I could roller skate easy enough. Well, except for that whole going backwards thing. Never could figure out how to do that.

I might not have known about ice hockey, but I loved figure skating. Or the idea of it. As a little girl I’d dream of skating and jumping and twirling on the ice. Of course, I also dreamed of being a gymnast until I stood on a balance beam. Uhhh, no thank you.

But skating was fun. Well, fun until I strapped on a pair of very used boots and my ankles would wobble after one trip around the rink. And then I’d fall on the hard, COLD, ice. Then it wasn’t so much fun. Neither were the blisters I ended up with. But that’s because I had the wrong footwear. Right?

Maybe if I had grown up in the northern climes, instead of Southern California, I would have learned to skate at a young age. I would have had stronger ankles. I would have had boots that fit. Didn’t mean I would have been able to play ice hockey, though. Did they even have women’s teams back in the 70s? I don’t think so.

Don’t get me wrong. I loved growing up in Southern California and wished we could have retired there. But I think I would have loved to have played ice hockey, too.

I’m glad the sport is more popular now, so a girl growing up in Southern California might discover the sport and get the chance to play if she so desired.

Is there something you wish you could have done when you were younger, if you’d known about it, that is?

Stacy

P.S. Happy Birthday, Sweetie! Yep, it's my hubby's birthday. He's mumble-mumble years old today!