Saturday, February 23, 2013

White - 52 Clicks Project




Couldn't be better timing. Our theme this week is white and we get snow! Not much, but I hear a whole lot is coming tonight.

Not a fan of white here. I'm a color girl all the way. I love color images and don't like snow. Well, snow isn't so bad, but COLD is! White sand beaches are more my forte.

So, why aren't I living in Florida???? It is a dream. Winters in Florida and Summers in Colorado (except of a week of skiing in the winter). Don't know why, as much as I hate the cold, my favorite sports are skiing and ice skating. And since I am just as much a journalist as a photographer, here's the story to go with the picture. :)

A 10 year old Michelle moves to Colorado just as the winter Olympics are happening. And, who is the star of those Olympics? Dorthy Hamill.  Yes, the inventor of the Hamill Camel. And where did Dorthy skate? Colorado. I tried skiing and hated it at the time! But, ice skating......ice skating, was another matter. I LOVED to ice skate. I LIVED to ice skate. The beauty of dance and the athleticism of gymnastics all together on ice! Every Saturday my mom would take my sister and I to the nearby rink for lessons. I was flying through the USFSA basic skills lessons and getting my patches as my sister flew around the rink. Grace was more my thing, SPEED was hers.

But, those were the days of compulsory figures. Ice time and lessons became too much of a financial burden. So, my ice skating lesson days were over. Ending on rental skates, when all I really wanted with all my heart was a pair of Riedell ice skates in white with sharp blades. Not rental brown with banged up blades.

Fast forward almost 20 years and I find myself with a 4 year old daughter living steps away from the brand spanking new Colorado Springs World Arena. And guess what?! They are offered amazing deals on ice skating lessons for kids as part of their grand opening. Not only that, the lessons are taught by aspiring Olympic athletes living at the nearby Olympic Training Center! Score!

I signed Steph up as fast as I could write the check. And....she loved it! Like mother, like daughter. She flew through those USFSA basic skill lessons and got her patches, started private lessons and at the tender young age of 5 started competing. On ugly brown rental skates. 

She got second in her first competition and her coach said it was time to dump the rentals.  SHE was the one that got the beautiful white Riedell skates with sharp blades. HOWEVER, I had waited too long! I wasn't going to go without! When she got her skates I got mine! Not Riedells....still too expensive... but STILL, not ugly brown rental skates!

The skates made a difference and Steph took first in every single competition she did after that. And me, I skated during lunch hours at the World Arena for $1.00  a skate. Remembering those skills from long ago and picking up a few new ones from watching my daughter.

Then, we were transferred to Parker. Steph, at the tender age of 6 1/2, was at the point in her skating career where skaters need to skate before school, after school, every day and nothing else. We moved fairly far from any ice. She chose dance, and girl scouts, and soccer, and volleyball, and basektball and theater and choir and.......over skating. She outgrew her skates. We sold her Riedells and her flashy skating outfits to the next dreamer.

However, I didn't outgrow my skates. They sit in a closet until I pull them out, dust them off, and very, very, occasionally hit the ice with dreams of days gone-by. Or... just to take a photo of them for a 52 Clicks project on "White" and remember.




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