Lessons learned on the ice

Sliding is fun.

Falling down hurts.

Sliding is fun.

Fast people are scary.

Still, sliding is fun.

"I can do cross-cuts!"

Throwing your arms in the air in jubilation may drive your picks into the ice.

Falling down really hard on both knees really hurts.

Sliding while falling makes it hurt less.

A diving slide is almost fun.

It is possible to take a chunk out of the ice with a knee.

Rink ice is not very thick.

When you see the wrinkles in the tape that marks the lines, the ice might not be thick enough.

The caretaker might not believe you.

When the ice starts breaking up in the middle of a hockey game that evening, he'll wish he'd listened.

Hockey is fun to watch, once you grow out of your fear of stray pucks.

To win at hockey, you have to play rough, and push the rules to the limits.

In curling, you have to follow the rules exactly, or else the game doesn't work.

I get to curl with some fine people.

Some nights I'd rather play hockey.

First I'd have to learn how to skate.

But walking home from the curling rink tonight, thinking about body checks into the boards, I looked up and saw a great bright ring around the moon.

There were just a few stars showing just inside the ring, like those curling stones that hang around the edges of the house and sometimes mean nothing, and sometimes make a big score all at once.

The ring was too big and subtle for a picture. Maybe someday you'll get to see one like it. I hope so.

Sliding is fun.