Wednesday, December 27, 2017

Holiday on Ice


The young Batty striking his signature pose, circa 1957, Bohanon Park, Minneapolis

One of the post-Christmas rituals I had to endure when I was a child was trekking to the park, going into the rickety wooden warming house (with a wood stove!), lacing up and donning ice skates, then going out on the ice rink and falling down. I did this for several years, the result was always the same: Pain. Pain from landing hard, pain from the cold, pain from the various cruelties committed to me by my peers in what were common practices at the time. I guess that is why I never got into hockey. Later, when I was older, I tried to follow pro hockey but the one game that I did manage to watch all the way through reinforced my earlier opinions.

Now that I am old and brittle, I have an excuse for opting out.

No hip replacements for me.

Yet.

By Professor Batty


3 Comments:

Blogger Unknown said...

*ahem* Indeed. One would hope you've found a new signature pose.


Anonymous Andy said...

The other kid in the photo was probably me getting ready to fall. My dad was a star hockey player at Roosevelt High. Like so many others, his potential pro sports career was cut short by WWll... not much hockey in the south Pacific. Unfortunately (for me), I became the stand-in for a dream not realized. I couldn't skate if my life depended on it. I hated it, and the disappointment my dad felt. The only thing I remember enjoying was the wood fired stove in that warming house!


Blogger Professor Batty said...

I loved that stove! My feet were always blocks of ice.

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