I have my skates on ~

oh i am sitting on the love seat by the fire and i have my skates on ~

this is one way of breaking in your skate boots which are stiff and hard when new / they need to be molded to your foot for your ultimate skating pleasure / the boot is the connecting link between you & your foot & the skate blade

the goal is the skate blade as an extension of your body via your foot

i didnt know about breaking in skate boots when i signed up for lessons / i bought my skates the day before the lessons started / this was in 1997 when i was back east / i was waiting there to be a witness in a trial and had six weeks to spend there / the day i got the subpoena was the same day i saw the ad for skating lessons in the local weekly rag

ever since my first Sonja Henie movie i have wanted to BE a figure skater or at least take real lessons

the young salesman told me about breaking in the boots / use thin socks (this is the rule for figure skates) / wet the socks and put them on and put on the boots / using the blade guards walk around on padded or carpeted floors / wear them when you eat or watch tv

i laid out a path of my woven cotton rag rugs and tramped around for hours that night

when i remembered this i got out my skates and put them by the heater / when i was working at the rink i warmed my boots up with the hand dryer in the bathroom

i am figuring out how to keep my boots warm on the way out to the lake / hmmm / warm them by the heater then wrap them in blankets with hot water bottles ! then keep them near the car heater on the way out / it's not all that far / i tell you putting on warm boots is way more better

i also like to have my feet bare in the boots / the first time i slipped them on sans socks i felt like i had entered the bliss zone / it is very like the first time you put them on after they are well broken in / there's this moment when you suddenly realize they really are broken in / they go on like slippers and are completely comfortable / this is when the blade begins to feel attached to your foot instead of your boot / it is a whole different relationship to the ice

ah, the ice !

more anon