Black Bird singing in the dead of night.

Yesterday, and I don't know how, a black bird (my generic term for this creature--I'm not a "birder" or even a "bird watcher") somehow got inside our house and flew upstairs to our bedroom.  We vainly attempted to coax Mr. Bird out via any number of opened windows but our terrified visitor instead flew into my bedroom closet which is stuffed to the gunnels with my treasured junque.  After carefully removing lots of boxes (boy were they dusty!) we finally managed to trap our avian friend (unharmed) in a waste paper basket.  I then succeeded in taking this outdoors and released our birdy back to where he belongs.  What, you may ask, does any of this have to do with a skating blot?  The answer, my friends, while not blown on the wind, is contained inside one of those dusty boxes brought to the light of day from the depths of my "archive".

Yep, 1976.  Some of the skaters at my home rink weren't even born then!  I was still 29 on the 8th of May so you can trust me--this really is my card.  I wonder what is the meaning "IST" Gamma?  First? Gamma?  Is that like being First Trumpet?  Perhaps it distinguishes this early gamma success from my more recent re-passing of that milestone a couple years ago.  Perhaps now I'm merely 2nd gamma.  I may never know.  I wonder if the requirements for gamma have changed over the years?

 When I earned this card I was less than a year out of the service (I was discharged in July of '75) and back studying at the University of Delaware.  Ice skating at UDEL was not particularly well known in those pre-Johnny Weir/Kimmie Meissner days.  The Skating Club of Wilmington had yet to join forces with the University's skating club but, even in those prehistoric days, figure skating was listed as one of a handful of "activities" which students could sign up for as part of the student activity fee--a fee which we all had to pay.  Fresh out of the service and living on the slim combination of a graduate stipend and VA benefits, I was bound and determined to get something back for the fee collected so figure skating it was.  That ancient history can be revisited here  

This was our textbook.  Still useful reading.

It amazes me that my old gamma card has survived several moves of house.  It shows just how infrequently I revisit the contents of the particular box it was in.  I had completely forgotten it.  On a whim I sent the pix of my old card to ISI and asked them if their records go back this far.  ISI itself was still a "teenager" in 1976 (founded in 1959). If their records are intact I wonder if they have a record of me passing Delta.  Didn't find that card.  I do remember working on FS-1 elements before leaving Delaware.

Opening an old box introduces so many questions.  I still don't know how that bird got into the house.

Two Inspirations

This past Saturday found your diarist on the Jersey shore.  Of course I brought my skates along and as luck would have it, I was able to make the 12:30 to 2:30 pm public session at a rink in Atlantic City.  As is the case at most rinks this time of year, the Flyers Skate Zone was heaving with skaters, mostly either in rentals or hockey skates.  Crowded though it was, one could sneak in useful practice by being patient and being positioned in the right place at the right time.  I worked on single foot spins either in the center circle or just outside of it.  After a couple of wind-ups the kids with EZ-skaters tended to give me a wide berth. 

The population density was high enough that rink management decided to do an ice cut at the halfway point.  I took this pause as an opportunity to retie my boots.  I found a seat in the lobby and was attending to that task when I overheard a conversation between a 12 year old boy and his father.  The boy had on skates and was nagging his dad to rent some and come join him on the ice.  Father: "Na, I'm too old for that stuff.  I don't wanna fall and get hurt."  Boy: "Dad, come-on, you're not that old; I mean like there's this really old man out there.  He's waaaay older than you are and he's doing pirouettes and stuff."

"Pirouettes" indeed.  Sounds terribly balletic when applied to a stiff geezer skater.  Sigh, it always warms my heart to learn that I've been an inspiration for someone!

Which leads me to inspiration Nr 2.  Upon returning home and going through the accumulated newspapers I found the following article in the Washington Post's KidsPost section.  Perhaps you can share it with a young skater or two:  http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/kidspost/2015/01/15/1d49ec7a-977d-11e4-aabd-d0b93ff613d5_story.html