Some things I’m not ready for yet

Ice in the wild is my nemesis.

Once upon a time, I walked to school every day. Just three blocks, I had to go up the street, cross the railroad tracks on top of the hill, then back down the hill into the “wealthy” neighborhood, and on to school.

Running to the next puddle and splashing in it was great fun, even better in winter. Then I was sliding on the ice instead of splashing. Until one day, I slipped and fell, cutting my knee badly. Forty years later, I still have the scars. After the fall, I could no longer stand to slide on the frozen puddles.

Fast forward 15 years, as a young adult. My best friend loved everything icy, having been raised in Batavia, New York. She was also a great skater, and convinced me to take ice skating lessons. After many lessons, I actually had confidence to go out. I knew how to balance, how to move forward, how to skate. We went skating. One loop around the rink was all I managed before I fell and broke my wrist. End of ice for me again.

Fast forward again 5 more years. Living in Europe, I had a new circle of friends. As fate would have it, they decided to go skiing in the Italian Dolomite mountains. I went along to learn to ski. Got my gear, arranged lessons. Stood on top of the bunny slope, and went for it. The slope had no snow whatsoever, just ice. At that moment, I decided I was never going to force myself onto ice again.

Fast forward to tonight. The only barrier between me an aquajogging was several hundred meters of, you guessed it, ice. The normal walk involved a lot of poorly cleaned stairs. The parking lot with no stairs to the entrance was up an equally slippery hilly road. After some debate I decided to walk it. I didn’t get even a tenth of the way before the stress was too much. I kept my promise to myself and went home.

Once home, I broke into tears at this defeat. Somehow I had the irrational belief that I could beat this without practice. DH, bless his heart, came with just the right hugs and kisses and the words, “So you gave it a shot. Good job. Once you get some more practice, it will be easier.”