Thirteen weeks of skating lessons came to an end this morning. I can’t believe how far I have come since mid-September. Today we did naething but practise our backwards skating and I am finally getting the hang of it. What seems so effortless to the instructors came to me easily today. I was extending my legs out in arcs, one arc at a time, and flowing with the motion. My knees did the work and I glided [1] back. It helped me to imagine that I was skating “downhill”. I had been using that skew of perception for the last few weeks in order to facilitate an easier backwards stroke.

My friends from Mark’s hockey league all tell me that I am “hooked”. I sure am. Tuesday mornings can’t come fast enough and Mark and I have gone skating at a rink near his house twice already, including this past Sunday. I would like to continue my lessons, now in the second-from-the-bottom beginners class, in the new year. Fortunately they will continue to be offered on Tuesday mornings, which is the best time for me.

[1] I once challenged aff the faux imperfect “glid”–in Division One, no less!