Figure skating dreams

Isn't it interesting how memories have such fierce ways of showing themselves years later? Lately I've been thinking a lot about my years as a figure skater.

When I was six years old I went to an ice skating birthday party and fell in love with the sport, and a year later I was enrolled in lessons and quickly advanced though all the levels that public lessons offered. By the time I was ten I was in private lessons, had my own set of beautiful ice skates, and I remember being so proud that I had landed my first jump, the waltz.

I wasn't as talented as some, and didn't advance as quickly as others, but I did advance, and before my 13th birthday I had landed all my single jumps (except the dreaded axial), advanced to camel spins, sit spins, and lay back spins.

The memories that have been rushing back are the hours I spent on the ice before and after school. I remember the carpet texture from the warm up room, and the smell of the bathroom where all the skaters changed (it always smelled strongly of toothpaste) and the feel of the ice after the Zamboni had gone over it.

The thing I miss the most (and the thing that keeps popping up in dreams) is the feeling of skating fast. I could skate as fast as anybody with back-crossovers. I loved zipping across the ice, feeling my heart pound in my chest, and being totally worn out after an hour of speed conditioning class.

Sometimes I dream that I have gone back to skating, and all the jumps and spins I had struggled with previously come to me as quickly and easily as those first skills did. I wake feeling a strong need to get back on the ice, to stretch my legs, and to land all my jumps. But when I do go to the public skating rink, I find that I can't do what I once did, and those difficult jumps that I once struggled with will always be just a part of my memory.