Change Direction

I'm taking this blog in a different direction. I thought about creating a new one, but I spent so much time customizing this one...I'm loathe to do that again from scratch. I don't know if anyone follows this blog anymore, doesn't matter. But I haven't been on the ice in quite some time. Instead I've been on the derby track and discovered a love of hooping.

I truly enjoy being on skates. Ice skating will always be my love, but the rink is too far away, the ice times too inconvenient. I could probably handle one of those issues but both are just a double whammy of disappointment. I have a full time job. I can't drive an hour to the rink, skate for an hour, drive an hour back, AND still keep my job. Too bad rinks are so focused on hockey as their money maker. Figure skaters either have to skate at the butt-crack of dawn or nothing else. Evening or weekend freestyle is a thing of the very distant past.

I've transitioned a bit of my love of being on skates to roller derby. I'm not very good, I'll just say that right now. I've never bouted. I never even passed minimum skills from the main league. But recently, a rec league started. No pressure. Just camaraderie and skills. I've improved a lot. I'm hoping we'll have enough skaters in our league to one day scrimmage after all, but I'm not holding my breath. We're a small group of skaters who just love being on skates but for whatever reason, do not want to join the competitive league. Some are retired hella good skaters. Some are like me, who never passed minimum skills. Some just don't have the time.

Around the time I re-joined roller derby, I started hooping, thinking it would be a great core exercise to help my derby. Little did I know I would fall in love with the dance aspect. I did colorguard in college, so many of the tricks are similar in hand placement. I also did rhythmic gymnastics as a child and never had any problem with waist spinning. All this has translated well into a thinking that I could be really good at this.

Back to this blog, since I'm no longer ice skating (I'll never say never about ice skating), I'm going to use this blog to journal my skills in both roller derby and hooping. I'll post videos. Frustrations. Achievements. Mostly so I can show myself I really have improved.