Skating in the Great Outdoors...

(which is much better than skating in the Mediocre Outdoors...)

It has been a bit of a weird day..I spent most of it going down memory lane...which does have a connection - although a bit tenuous - to this blip photo..

I received an email today from someone who belongs to a historical photo group online for my home town of Parry Sound. Seems someone recently posted an old photo of the Parry Sound girls' ice hockey team I played on way back in my high school days..like OMG...we are talking about 58 or 59 years ago? "Historical" would be the operative word here!  

Apart from feeling VERY VERY old today, I had a lot of fun with that photo, reminiscing and trying to put names to faces... Those were interesting years...there were so many equality issues back then - and one of them was girls having to fight for the right to play ice hockey.. and to be given a fair deal with ice time etc. There were stories of girls pretending to be boys to get to play as there were only boy's teams..I was so lucky that my home town gave me a chance to play and I was lucky as well when I went to university as by then they had women's teams and I was able to continue playing. 

But those were still the early years...there were not a lot of opportunities for girls to play, compete and receive excellent coaching. Many were really talented, but most of us were not as skilled as the women who play today. ... not by a long shot. Women's hockey has come such a long way since then! The women's game today is absolutely amazing and an Olympic sport! Something we could never have imagined  back in those days... 

Anyway, on the way home from a medical appointment this morning, I stopped by one of our outdoor rinks in the neighbourhood, just to check it out and watch some folks skate...and I found myself wishing I still had a pair of skates and wondering if I would even be able to stand up on them now..or is it like riding a bicycle? You never forget?