Ice skating. To glide and dance, to twirl and jump—what must that feel like?
As a Southerner, ice skating is as mysterious to me as, I don’t know, snow drifts? Snow shoes, snow tires, snow blowers?
Maybe that’s why I love watching the Winter Olympics so much. How do people actually do that? Ice skaters start when they are children. And they grow up to be proficient, skilled, graceful. Oh to be able to do that…
Me holding onto the wall that one time I tried ice skating
A few years ago, Mart and I visited Scotland for the first time. Our tour guide in Edinburgh showed us many important, historic buildings. He also walked us into the National Gallery and showed us a handful of paintings and pieces that were critical to Scotland’s and Edinburgh’s history.
Photo credit: MMartin
What I remember most about our first time in that museum was a painting of a man, dressed in a long black frock coat and black pants, a black top hat, and a white stock at his throat. Called “Reverend Robert Walker (1755 - 1808) Skating on Duddingston Loch“, the painting grabbed my attention. The ice skates on the reverend’s feet surprised me.
Our tour guide explained that the painting, done by Sir Henry Raeburn, was thought to be Reverend Robert Walker, who was minister at Canongate Kirk, which we saw later that day, as well as a member of the Edinburgh Skating Society.
“Walker's pose, as he glides across the ice, looks effortless,” according to the National Gallery website, “but would have been recognised by fellow skaters as a difficult and sophisticated manoeuvre.” He looks relaxed like he’s at home on the ice but focused, dressed up and formal, even.
Canongate Kirk
He looks so serious, doesn’t he?
What is he thinking? Perhaps he’s musing about the challenges at work or difficulties in his parishioners’ lives. Or maybe he’s thinking about his children or grandchildren.
Does he use the time on the ice to clear his head from a long day at work or to dream about the future?
Does being on skates make him feel like a young man again? Maybe he thinks about those days, long ago, when he first learned to balance on those thin blades.
Is he having fun? Or is this a sort of workout for him?
I’d like to think he’s having fun. I’d like to think when he’s almost done and ready to take off his skates, he does a final twist or spin, to the surprise of younger people around him. Ha! That would be fun to see.
I don’t know what he’s thinking about, of course, but I love this painting. In fact, I love it so much that I bought some socks with “the skating minister” on them.
Even though the painting already has a perfectly fine title, I call it “Serious Fun.” That’s a play on words, of course. I want to go and have myself some serious fun too. I want to find my equivalent of ice skates, put them on, get going, and have some fun—just not too serious.
What about you—when is the last time you had fun? What were you doing? When can you do it again? Pull out your calendar or planner and make a date with yourself to do it soon, before the summer is over. And leave a comment to let me know what your serious fun is.
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Photo of person on ice rink courtesy of Unsplash