two days, two lakes, the two of us, and two others. so last weekend, i started hearing about a forecast for some significant snow tuesday night and into wednesday. after two days of flagging the shaker trails, any snow would be much appreciated and help there actually be a snowshoe fest in two weeks. at that moment things were extremely thin and very icy. saturday, pam went with me and was really thankful to have her micro-spikes on. sunday i marked another trail on a cautious solo loop, spending some time cutting a couple of large blowdowns.
when i got home there was still plenty of daylight left to coax pam to grab her skates and go out for a glide around canaan street lake. we met linda and skip already out on the lake and linda repeated the hopeful snow forecast, throwing in noah's confirmation of 3-5 inches, maybe even emphasizing the 5. the ice was marginal, but as the sun was going down coloring the sky pinkish-orange, we were happily flying around a large smooth area over in the cardigan bay.
we headed back toward the town beach and our boots (about "street" in canaan street on the google picture) and discussed a possible skate for monday--martin luther king jr. day. pam would be home and skip and linda would not have school. skip suggested grafton pond which sounded good, possibly smoother ice. it would be worth a try it at least.
pam finished her salad lunch and we loaded the skates about one o'clock. as we got to the dam on the pond a car came at us with the "bearded" driver wildly waving. at least that is what pam described, i was trying to stay on the narrow road. turned out it was colin, who had just had a fine skate and was headed home. so the pendletons, already out on the ice, came back and reported when they saw us gearing up.
grafton pond is much larger and convoluted along the shoreline, as well as around the many islands scattered about. it is one of our favorite places to skate, and today only cemented that bias. the ice was indeed fine, smooth and with very few 'bad' spots. i tend to fly about faster than the others so i was able to swing around many of the islands and bays, circling back to pam and linda. skip was circling his own path, his hockey skates not as long as my nordic blades, and hence not as speedy.
but, speed was not the reason we were out there. the sun was shining and the surface as smooth as could be expected given our winter so far. it was a perfect day to circumnavigate pretty much the entire perimeter, which made for a wonderful afternoon and big smiles. we met another skater skating a large oval along the furtherest end of the northern cove (the top right of the google picture), the ice there zamboni smooth. we joined his loop until our legs said time to get back to the dam and our boots (the middle left where the road meets the dam on the google picture).
true enough, as i approached the rope i thought this might be fun. dodging a few ice fishing holes i took aim and grabbed ahold swinging way up off the ice and turning in midair. as i whipped back onto the ice i was laughing aloud and planning to go at it again with a bit more speed maybe. the second time up and down, i saw skip coming over--i encouraged him with a "faster" or two. we traded a couple more goes each when pam went at it. i didn't know if it was for real, but gave a whistle and clapped when she grabbed ahold, launched--ever so slightly, reversed, and came back toward with her own little whoop. it truly is the little things in life that make us happy.
by the time we got back to the dam the sun was dipping behind some clouds moving in. linda announced them to be the "weather" that was to bring us snow. if indeed they were, we were all ecstatic to have gotten in a few hours of "the best [skating] ever!" at least that is what skip would say...
when i got home there was still plenty of daylight left to coax pam to grab her skates and go out for a glide around canaan street lake. we met linda and skip already out on the lake and linda repeated the hopeful snow forecast, throwing in noah's confirmation of 3-5 inches, maybe even emphasizing the 5. the ice was marginal, but as the sun was going down coloring the sky pinkish-orange, we were happily flying around a large smooth area over in the cardigan bay.
we headed back toward the town beach and our boots (about "street" in canaan street on the google picture) and discussed a possible skate for monday--martin luther king jr. day. pam would be home and skip and linda would not have school. skip suggested grafton pond which sounded good, possibly smoother ice. it would be worth a try it at least.
pam finished her salad lunch and we loaded the skates about one o'clock. as we got to the dam on the pond a car came at us with the "bearded" driver wildly waving. at least that is what pam described, i was trying to stay on the narrow road. turned out it was colin, who had just had a fine skate and was headed home. so the pendletons, already out on the ice, came back and reported when they saw us gearing up.
grafton pond is much larger and convoluted along the shoreline, as well as around the many islands scattered about. it is one of our favorite places to skate, and today only cemented that bias. the ice was indeed fine, smooth and with very few 'bad' spots. i tend to fly about faster than the others so i was able to swing around many of the islands and bays, circling back to pam and linda. skip was circling his own path, his hockey skates not as long as my nordic blades, and hence not as speedy.
but, speed was not the reason we were out there. the sun was shining and the surface as smooth as could be expected given our winter so far. it was a perfect day to circumnavigate pretty much the entire perimeter, which made for a wonderful afternoon and big smiles. we met another skater skating a large oval along the furtherest end of the northern cove (the top right of the google picture), the ice there zamboni smooth. we joined his loop until our legs said time to get back to the dam and our boots (the middle left where the road meets the dam on the google picture).
of course there was one other very large, and quite smooth, cove to circle. going in well ahead of the others i lowered my back, put my head down, and pumped hard. i felt like hans brinker as i cornered, my inside arm tucked behind the back, the other swinging with each crossover and clack of the skate snapping back. linda and skip were taking a rest when i lapped them. i whizzed past and shot out back into the middle of the pond. toward a little island that i thought i spotted a rope swing hanging over the ice. just visible on the far side of the island in the picture below.
true enough, as i approached the rope i thought this might be fun. dodging a few ice fishing holes i took aim and grabbed ahold swinging way up off the ice and turning in midair. as i whipped back onto the ice i was laughing aloud and planning to go at it again with a bit more speed maybe. the second time up and down, i saw skip coming over--i encouraged him with a "faster" or two. we traded a couple more goes each when pam went at it. i didn't know if it was for real, but gave a whistle and clapped when she grabbed ahold, launched--ever so slightly, reversed, and came back toward with her own little whoop. it truly is the little things in life that make us happy.
by the time we got back to the dam the sun was dipping behind some clouds moving in. linda announced them to be the "weather" that was to bring us snow. if indeed they were, we were all ecstatic to have gotten in a few hours of "the best [skating] ever!" at least that is what skip would say...
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