She never would have dreamed that the old red barn on the farm and the covered play area at the two-room schoolhouse would have anything in common besides being a place of shelter from the frequent Oregon rain.
They each had cement floors, although the one in the barn was much smaller and had a gutter down the middle for cow manure, which by necessity needed to be hosed out before using the area how she wanted.
The old board floors in the barn were quite worn and ridged in many spots making it impossible to glide evenly over them, and the sloping floor above the tunnels that had once been used as driers for long racks filled with plums was definitely out of the question if she didn't want to fall and get a hand full of splinters.
She had received a pair of metal skates in the third grade when she entered her new school after her family had moved to the farm, and after the teachers told the kids that they could skate in the covered playground area during recess on some of the rainy days.
Her skates came with a key that she used to adjust the skates to the size of her shoes, making it possible to wear the same pair of skates the next year even if she needed a larger pair of shoes.
One of the scars on her chin became a permanent reminder of learning to skate and became a key motivator for her to try to stay upright in the future, although sadly she had to receive stitches again in the exact same spot within a few years, but not because of her own doing.
Do you have a memory of something that became a key motivator in your life?
I remember those old metal rollerskates that clamped on your shoes, and you have to have the special key to tighten them so they'd stay on. They used to let skate once a week on the floor of our National Guard Armory auditorium. Nowdays I'd be afraid to try that, I suspect there would likely be a need for casts instead of stitches! :-) I think one of the biggest key motivators in my life was people telling me I couldn't do something, I wanted to prove that I could!
ReplyDeleteThere was a roller skating rink in my town when I was growing up. I don't remember going there maybe more than once. I'm sure I would end up in a cast now if I tried to roller skate. No question about it. Sometimes people are motivated by someone telling them they can't do something. Sometimes parents also use that method of reverse psychology with a child who doesn't want to try something that they are really capable of doing.
DeleteI remember roller skating parties when I was in elementary school - they were such a big deal. I never did quite get the hang of roller skates or, subsequently, roller blades. But it was definitely a fun memory!
ReplyDeleteIt is kind of strange how there seems to be some things one easily learns to do and other things that just don't come naturally, or even with tons of trying attempts the skill lays completely dormant. The hula hoop was one of those things I never did get the hang of, no matter how much I tried.
DeleteI had the metal skates growing UP, and we had a great regular skating rink in our town. Lots of fun lots of memories
ReplyDeleteWe only had one skating rink in the town where I grew up. A few years after I was married, another rink was built.
DeleteI had those skates too, and wore the key on a string around my neck. We'd go "skiing" by holding on to the sissy bar of a bike, pulling us along. I still have a scar on my knee, decades later. Thanks for the happy memory. :-)
ReplyDeleteOh, another roller skating scar holder! It is amazing how long scars can last!
DeleteI'm really curious about the further story--the 2nd wound in the same place, "not of her own doing"...
ReplyDeleteWhen I was in the 5th grade and headed out to recess, some 8th grade boys were running behind some of us as they were heading towards the baseball field. One of the boys zigged instead of zagging and I ended up flat on the gravel pathway with my chin taking the brunt of the force. More stitches were required in the very same place as my skating injury.
DeleteOh, that skate key. I wore it around my neck on a string as I rolled around our apartment complex on the skates that were attached to my shoes. And yes, I have scars on my knees, still. I can hear the metal wheels clomping as we tried to walk over bumpy terrain with our skates on.
ReplyDeleteYou have described that sound very well. Clumping it was. I managed not to get scars on my knees. I seemed to lead with my chin. :-)
DeleteI had skates like that! My parents hated them, something about destroying the soles of the good shoes I would invariable wear when skating (stiffer sole, more control). And the key and the the length adjustment (on the underside if the all metal skate.)
ReplyDeleteMy skating phase did not last long, and I never got to the very cool level of laced-up, wooden-wheeled skates (there were not rinks in our area).
And...not a helmet in sight. There simply were no such things...unless I wanted to find a football helmet. Times, they do change!
I agree that the only helmets I ever saw back then were the ones the football players wore! We were "tougher" in the old days. Well maybe not so much, since we have scars to prove it.
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