It is winter. For most of my adult life, I have dreaded winter. However, that wasn’t always the case. As a child, I lived for winters, for when I could lace up my skates and spend hours at the ice rink or strap on some skis and shush down the sad little excuses we have for ski hills here in southeast Michigan. If I was lucky, we spent a weekend or two skiing in Canada after one of my brother Paul's hockey tournaments. That, too, was part of the fun, hockey season and going all over Michigan and Canada to watch my brother play.
Somewhere along the way, my life took some wild and crazy turns. I grew to despise the dreary winter months. This year, I decided to look at things a little differently. Mostly, I decided to get active and stay active throughout the winter.
For a long time, I've been telling my cohorts here at the Herald that I once had aspirations of being another Dorothy Hamill and that I still had a pretty nice pair of skates that I could use to skate on my lunch hours at the various manmade outdoor rinks the City of Tecumseh has built over the years. I just never got around to dusting the skates off and getting them sharpened. This year, however, I decided to pull the skates out of my closet.
I finally brought my skates to work and at lunchtime headed over to Adams Park where a nice little rink has been set up for anyone to skate on. I'm a bit wobbly on the skates anymore, but being outside, even in the cold, was exhilarating. It doesn't feel as cold when you are skating. Well, I no longer aspire to be Dorothy Hamill but being on the ice made for a great lunchtime workout and being on the move outside makes winter feel a little less harsh. I’m sure you’ll find me skating during lunch a few more times before the rink melts away.
