Try Skating Into Holidays At Ice Rink

Tue., Dec. 19, 1995

By Paul Turner srpaulturner@gmail.com

It’s not always the case.

But usually you can tell if people can skate just by watching them lace up.

If they seem mystified, that’s not a good sign. Odds are, they’re going down. If, on the other hand, they are methodical and unhesitating, there’s an excellent chance they’ll know what they are doing once they get out on the ice.

Your Being There correspondent tested this forecasting theory Sunday at Riverfront Park’s Ice Palace. And it proved highly reliable.

But you don’t really need to make a game of it to enjoy watching ice skaters. It’s pretty entertaining as it is. If you think the tension and excitement of waiting for the costumed pros to wipe out on TV is something, you should try watching regular people skate.

So OK, the people at the park were not attempting a lot of triple axels and flying camels. For the most part, they moved around the roofed, openair rink in lazy counter-clockwise ellipses.

The slow-slashing sound of metal blades slicing over the ice blended with Travis Tritt and Bonnie Raitt. Skaters’ expressions ranged from affected nonchalance to uninhibited Christmas-is-coming smiles.

There were sights worth seeing.

The wide-eyed look on the face of a skater who had gotten up a head of steam before remembering that he didn’t know how to stop.

The unhappy little girl whose reaction to her mother trying to teach her to skate was to go dishrag limp. “Molly, please TRY to stand up.”

The grade-school boy maintaining a death grip on the sideboards as he inched his way around the ice surface, looking like a seasick cruise passenger.

The teenage girls who took turns striking comically theatrical figure-skater poses and then blowing kisses to a phantom crowd.

The thirtysomething guy in hockey skates who seemed so pleased that he could still fluidly shift to skating backward.

The little boy in a helmet who smiled like he was being tickled as his parents skated along beside him, each holding one of his hands.

The preschool kid who fell, seemed worried for a second, then started laughing when he realized he was fine.

“Are you getting tired?” a woman in the stands called to a boy in a red sweatshirt.

“No,” he replied. “Send Dad for hot chocolate.” , DataTimes MEMO: Being There is a weekly feature that visits gatherings in the Inland Northwest.

Being There is a weekly feature that visits gatherings in the Inland Northwest.

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