This one seemed timely because I will always remember my girl's ire on the ice, and she is in my heart after having a rough day. I've been missing my mom, too, and this post reminds me of Corey fortitude, and celebrating what's to be celebrated, and how much fun we always have when we're together.
Sunday, January 2, 2011
Oh, I've got photos
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by Jacquie
Oh yes, sister. I've got photos!
As Ellie alluded, our massive group had plans to divide and conquer the windy city that day. Although I wept with angst every time anyone left me, ever, I managed to pull it together enough to capture at least one shot of our smaller group on yon side of the ol' beanie weanie.
Body language translation: only chumps choose bookstores/bars/museums over skating! |
Ellie and Jane (I think) carried a combined total of eight pairs of skates during the bean adventure; it wasn’t until much later that someone had the brilliant epiphany that everyone could technically carry his or her own pair.
Have you ever seen a more adorable glimmer of joyful anticipation?! |
We
were thankful to have that huge assortment, because the line for skate
rental would have required endurance of an hour or longer in the frigid
cold.We had ourselves a joyful glimmer, but many among us were grasping
it by threads.
Aside: note the difference between those who own flattering headgear for long term endurance of the season and those who grab whatever is made of fleece, thinking: "Fuck my good looks, it's cold!" |
We smugly eschewed the rental line and went into a
wretched little room equipped with benches to select whichever skates
we could find to fit our respective tootsies. Mine were perfect,
but Jane sported a size 9 men’s hockey skate on her wee size 7 geisha
feet! This room was a cesspool of humanity, mostly inhabited by children
bellowing MOM MOM MOM MOM MOM MOM MOM MOM MOM and moms sweetly suggesting that the beckoning children stifle themselves or face their untimely demise.
We finally got everyone into skates and
toddling precariously toward the ice, so very eager to test our talent
and the ankles that in youth had never let us down. At the exact moment
we prepared to set off, the whistle blew, indicating that it was time
for the Zamboni.
I swear, it was the same guy who used to torture us at Crystal Rink, in conspiracy with the evil lifeguards who enforced adult swim at Shorehaven. I wished ferverently for a rotten tomato in hand to chuck at the Zambonista’s fool head. It took just under 75 bazillion hours for him to adequately encircle the ice until it sparkled and shone like … um, ice.
I swear, it was the same guy who used to torture us at Crystal Rink, in conspiracy with the evil lifeguards who enforced adult swim at Shorehaven. I wished ferverently for a rotten tomato in hand to chuck at the Zambonista’s fool head. It took just under 75 bazillion hours for him to adequately encircle the ice until it sparkled and shone like … um, ice.
And then, we were off:
Is that the unibomber? |
If only we could see her ginormous feet. |
This guy considered himself the king of the rink. |
He even offered to teach his younger cousin how it's done. Although I'm not exactly sure that shouting: "just go fast!" is technically considered teaching... |
Through it all, my girl Ellie and I wore huge grins, marveling at the muscle memory that escorted us around and around on that little freezing patch of ice in the middle of Chicago. It was so fun! We never left the rink, the two of us, until absolutely everyone else had disappeared back into the pit of despair to de-skate and wait. They were patient, though. One of the greatest things about that week together was how patient everyone was with each other, each person allowing the other to indulge in her own winter midwest adventures without judgment or ire. Ellie and I loved that skating, and we stayed 'til the bitter end and then took a moment to try and capture the happy with a self portrait:
Here's where the grumpy people in line for skates could have come in handy to help us by taking a shot, but they were too grumpy. |
Less than two blocks away, there was a bakery, with cocoa and cookies but tragically, no pie:
Guess who quipped: "What kind of bakery doesn't have pie?" |
I may or may not have fallen UP the stairs in that bakery.
But the best part was that two doors down was the Chicago institution, Miller's Pub, where polite young gentlemen gave us their barstools and Damien gave us big people our drinks:
Photo by Damien |
"You're freaking me out!" cried your girl that day, as you and I held her hands and positively flew over that ice. "But honey! You're *skating*!" She wasn't buying it; she wanted off. Look at her giving me The Look. "I hope you'll make this a good memory, because you did really well and it was fun." Yeah, right.
ReplyDeleteThat drink at Miller's was one of my highlights of that trip.
And now, for your Fabulous Fact of the day, a recent Jeopardy! question, er answer:
Category: 20th Century Names
Answer: Since his 1988 death, he’s been inducted into the U.S. Hockey, World Figure Skating & National Inventors Hall of Fame.
Question: Who is Frank Zamboni?
Frankie Z., baby!
Love it, Jacquie.
Ellie
ReplyDeleteYou Coreys sure do know how to have fun, and divide and conquer, and sport huge grins, and hold your wee skater aloft, and warm up at Miller's Pub! ;)
xoxo,
Beth
That was a warm day compared to what Connecticut is these days.. I loved that day...great post Jacquie.... love, mom
ReplyDeleteThat was a warm day compared to what Connecticut is these days.. I loved that day...great post Jacquie.... love, mom
ReplyDelete