May is the cruelest month.

My apologies to T. S. Eliot.  April may breed lilacs out the dead land, mixing memory and desire, but in May the City of Bowie melts the ice for two months just as many skaters are right on the cusp of passing the next ISI level!  Two months of struggling to find higher priced ice time close enough to get to after work.  Two months of struggling to keep from going backwards skill-wise.

I'm just back from the last public session of the skating "year".  The usual crowd was there plus a coach with two very good women hockey players going through drills.  I'd not seen this trio before but they were a welcome addition.  I've got no beef with actual hockey players (they very seldom show up at publics and as a rule are VERY good skaters).  The coach was a tall, shaven dome man with hawk-like eyes.  The women went through their drills like greased lightening.  Later I overheard one of the rink staffers ask how they did this year and the young ladies indicated that since their team finished number one they reckoned they'd done OK...

But enough about them--what about me?  I savored my last swing rolls and waltz jumps and will no doubt be grumpy later in the week as withdrawal settles in. My choices in order of length of drive distance from Bowie are:

Piney Orchard ~9.1 miles/15 minutes away

Wheaton Ice Arena ~22.8 miles/32 minutes away

Columbia Association Ice Rink ~22.9miles/34 minutes away

Capitol Club House ~32 miles/43 minutes away


Piney is the obvious choice.  They have a public on Friday evenings (hopefully not a DJ/disco ball affair) and a Sunday afternoon public which diaristdaughter and I can make.  Trouble is that Piney is a dark hole with so-so ice.  Yes, I'll skate there but don't be surprised to see a "new" geezer show up on your ice if you skate at Wheaton, Columbia or Waldorf.  Tis the season for Bowegian skaters to become wandering ice tourists--sigh....