Monday, June 15, 2009

Lake Placid Day 1: A Day of Irony

This is the second time that I am writing this. I was trying to write each day while I was in LP but my Mom's mini laptop mysteriously deleted the entire entry on me. Just when I was figuring out how to restore the backup it backed up the blank page. I love the mini computer but the tiny keyboard takes some getting used to, particularly since I have been touch typing for 30+ years now.

Back to skating...
Day 1 in LP
Drove out to Loon Lake to visit with my sister. Took my old skates with me to let her try them on. After all of the hugs and kisses we went out onto the deck to enjoy the sunny weather. This is when she decided to try the skates on. So here she is in shorts in the sun walking up and down the deck with one of my old skates on her left foot and one of my new skates on her right foot. The irony of this struck me. Here we are on top of a mountain in the middle of nowhere and she is walking around a deck in skating boots on a very sunny 80F day in June. The only ice within tens of miles of her is in her freezer. The good news is that my old boots fit her much better than her old boots so I gave them to her. Now she will be able to go skating with Mum once in a while.

After lunch and lots of talking we headed back to LP to have a quick bite and go to the rink to register. We were the first ones at the registration desk and had to hang around for a while before anyone else showed up. When the two ladies that ran the program came we got our packets and red tshirts. We found out that only 20 people had signed up and that there was no ice after Friday at 11:30am. They had sold the ice to a hockey group but charged everyone for ice through the evening on Saturday. I was mad but wanted to check a few things before I spoke with anyone about it so instead I sat down and talked with the coaches about lessons.

I booked three lessons with Robin and got to talk to my favorite jump coach Jack Devitt. While he wasn't giving any group lessons (due to a miscommunication he was left off the schedule) he was giving private lessons. Food for thought there.

I had another moment of irony, here I was in sitting on the floor at a table with a coach of national champions with a pairs champion on the couch behind me surrounded by pictures of famous athletes (we were in the Hall of Fame room) in the Olympic rink at Lake Placid. Little old me!! I would never had dreamed this a few years ago. It is truly an amazing experience.

No comments:

Post a Comment