Pond Skating

I used to go ice skating quite a bit when I lived in Boston. MIT actually had a physical education graduation requirement (yes, you read that right; you also had to pass a swimming test!) which I largely satisfied with ice skating classes because they didn't require an extra shower before heading back to class. Anybody who knows me knows that I'm all about time management and efficiency.

After leaving MIT, my job was only a few blocks away from campus. MIT offers alums access to their athletic facilities for a reasonable fee, so I would often head to the rink at lunchtime. I even bought skates for Mike so that he could join me. But then we moved to the Gorge and haven't skated since. The Gorge offers just about every other outdoor sport, except skating. There is an indoor rink in Portland at the Lloyd Center shopping mall, but who wants to skate in a shopping mall? And in the perpetual circular herd?

So when a friend hosted a skating party on his pond, we were pretty excited! It's not consistently cold in the gorge, but the past several weeks have been solidly below freezing. The ice was quite thick; the owner drilled down into the ice and stopped when he got tired. We decided to wear our snowboarding helmets, since we know at least one person who had cranial issues associated with a skating fall. We invited our friend Nikki, who was also a frequent skater growing up in Wyoming, to join us.

Thankfully, the old skills came back quickly. Although this was the first time that Mike used his skates, he also had some skating experience from his youth. In pretty short order, we were all comfortable on the ice and having fun.

This was probably the best skating experience I've ever had! The ice wasn't rink smooth, but it was pretty dang close. There was a thin layer of snow on top of the ice, but that served to make the ice a little slower, which suited us just fine. And there was plenty of space to skate freely.

The scenery and sunset were amazing.

We skated until it was too dark to see the bumps and crevices on the ice. And then we skated just a little longer. And then we skated back to shore where there were hot drinks and a bonfire waiting to warm us up.

It was so much fun that we went back the next day. And then I went back AGAIN the day after that. It was definitely the highlight of my winter!

Thanks to Grandma Donna for watching Anders while we skated! Maybe next time we'll try putting him on a sled...

- Corinne, Mike and Anders