Every winter when Bryant Park opens its skating rink and I see people walking into the Children's Center with skates hung over their shoulders I am taken back to the time I spent on the ice as a child.
My sister and I learned how to skate on a homemade rink that my father built on top of our vegetable garden. When I read the "Garden Ice" chapter in Ellen Obed's book, Twelve Kinds of Ice, I could completely relate. Our family also had Garden Ice! Every fall, after the last of the summer's vegetables were harvested, my father would even out the soil in the garden and put up planks around the parameter with the help of wooden stakes. After the first snow, my father would go out with a large shovel and pat down the snow. Once the snow was packed down, he would take out the garden hose and begin watering the snow. This process would occur again and again over numerous weeks depending on the snow fall. Other fathers in the neighbourhood would sometimes come over in the evenings to help prepare the ice. They would take straight edged shovels to scrape away any bumps in the ice. There was no Zamboni machine to help smooth things out.
The Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia are just around the corner. Watching the skating events will no doubt remind us of times spent on ice as children or maybe even our dreams of Olympic glory. The games will no doubt inspire a new generation so here is a list of books for young skating enthusiasts that you can find in your local library.
