I Don't Like Ice Skating

Kyla had her first ice-skating lesson last night. This was Penny’s idea as I am not an ice skater.

It was the first time I had been inside a skating rink since I was a kid. As we walked in, I was struck immediately by the atmosphere; the smell, the sites, the sounds, etc. Childhood memories came flooding back instantly. Memories that I realized I’m not very fond of and have probably never even thought about until last night.

As I mentioned, I’m not a skater. I never have been. I sucked at it and I hated it. I did it because all the other kids were doing it. Usually a couple of parents would load us all into a car or two and haul us down to the local rink for the afternoon.

No matter how much I tried I just couldn’t get the hang of it and really didn’t want to anyway. The only thing I liked about it was when it was finally over and we all took off our skates and got the hell outta there, usually going to McDonald’s or someplace like that.

The strange thing is, I didn’t actually realize at the time how much I hated it. It wasn’t until last night when I walked into that rink and it hit me in the face like a Russell Crowe hurled hotel phone. Right away I thought, wow, I really don’t fucking like ice-skating, and those times at the rink as a kid were some of the most miserable times of my life.

Needless to say, I won’t be getting on the ice with Kyla. That’ll be Penny’s thing. My thing is the bike, and I decided last night that my goal for this spring/summer is to get her going on the 2-wheeler and then the bike riding will be our thing.