Tiny skaters

Nova started ice-skating lessons at the outdoor rink in Winthrop, and she was already making tiny circles the first time out.  I think she's a natural athlete, like her mamma.  When I see her moving and dancing, I could be looking at our Amanda again at the same age. Of all the gifts of being a grandma, this is perhaps the greatest.


Nova and Adelina are also learning to downhill ski.  Here they are with Adeline's daddy at the rink.
Get ready for the 2030 Winter Olympics.  Will there still be snow and a beautiful winter world when these little girls grow up?

Here's an old picture of Tohickon Creek in Bucks County from the family collection I've been organizing.  This was behind Grammy's farm by the cow pasture, and I think that's her handwriting on the bottom of the photo. There is a boy on the far right, maybe even our dad, bringing home the cows.

My brother, sister and I skated on this creek when we were the same age as Nova and Maya. We had little double-bladed skates that strapped on our boots, and I remember shuffling along while our big cousins skated circles around us and raced up and down, showing off.

Skating on the creek was so thrilling.  That's because from the cradle, all farm kids have the Fear of God put in them about the dangers of going near water, and especially WALKING ON THIN ICE!  Of course the creek was frozen solid, but I remember thinking, what if we fell through?

We also skated at a public outdoor rink in downtown Quakertown.  Our mom wore a skirt and we hung on to her hands and flopped around. I must have been very small. Everyone was dressed nicely to skate. It was the 1950's, and ladies did not wear "dungarees" in public.

Much later as teenagers in Colorado in the 1960's (definitely wearing tight dungarees) we skated on a tennis court that the mayor of Woodland Park was nice enough to flood every night with a garden hose, so we had smooth ice to flirt and horse around on. 

I adore ice-skating and not to brag, but I was fairly good once. I hope it's like riding a bicycle, because there's nothing I'd like more than taking a spin holding hands with Nova and Maya.