I Wish I Knew

It has occurred to me that in my last post, I quoted a song title in my title that approximately 0.01% of readers will recognize. "What Do The Simple Folks Do?" is from Camelot. Camelot is a musical that seems to have almost been forgotten. It doesn't seem to be produced often, even in regional theatre. With book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Lowe, it's a beautiful score with a song or two that you might recognize. You should give it a listen; but just the original Broadway recording, don't listen to the movie. And that is my musical theatre trivia for this post. You're welcome. Work has been taking up a lot of my time. So much so that I work weekends and should be working now. There has been no consistency in my skating time for the last three weeks. This is due to having one coach who is a technical specialist for competitions, another coach who runs the test sessions at the rink and a third coach who visited her child in college. As a result, I've been sleeping in... shhhhh.... don't tell. However, I have been skating with a lovely group of adults (with a few exceptions that I will explain in a minute). They are so talented. Jumps, spins, footwork.... they're great. And I feel that I belong in a Learn-to-Skate class. Not there is anything wrong with Learn-to-Skate classes. However, at this stage of the game, I expected to be getting better; not worse. There is major hesitation before doing anything. I look like I've just started skating and I've been doing it for years. I have no idea what's going on. And it changes not just from day to day but minute to minute. Suddenly I have trouble doing a waltz jump. Then I can land my loop. Then my salchow goes away and doesn't ever really return. I seem to have lost the ability to spin, but was hitting a decent backspin just two months ago. I can blame this all on a lack of sleep, no exercise, more extra pounds than I need, but I just don't know what's going on. I skated better when my skates hurt so much that my feet would go numb. Now? I just know what to do. Don't get me wrong, my lesson are going fairly well. I have mastered the Rhythm Blues and almost the Swing Dance. Next on the list is the Cha-Cha and something else (I'm still having timing issues with the mohawk on the Swing; it's not my favorite). I can jump, sometimes, when in lesson. My spins, which were my best element, still elude me. And I'm still working on the right forward inside 3 turn which comes and goes like Joe Turner. (Joe Turner's Come and Gone is a play by August Wilson. Read it; it's good. Non-musical theatre trivia for this post.) Once again, I blame everything on my weight. Maybe that's the issue; I don't know. I do know it's frustrating because I look like I can skate and then I try to do something and it doesn't work. It tends to all work when I get really angry. This brings me back to the other adults I've been skating with. These are the idiots who spin in the corners. Who see you doing a program and don't move for you. These are the people you ask to move over because you're about to do an element in your program there, who say "sure" and then don't move. These are the people who cause YOU to fall because they've decided to dart in front of you. These are the people who, after telling them that spinning in the corner is dangerous, almost cut you in the face doing a camel spin. These are the people I threatened to sue if I got hurt because of them. These are the people who cause parents to say, "adults shouldn't skate on sessions with kids" because they don't look where they're going and they don't think the rules apply to them. If you are one of those people, STOP IT. STOP IT RIGHT NOW! Jumps go in the corners. Spins are ONLY in the center, unless you are doing your program. No ifs, ands or buts. Those are the rules of EVERY rink I have skated in, regardless of the state the rink is located in. It's for safety and to prevent someone like me from suing you. Back when I was ice monitor, that would get you kicked off the ice. No refunds. I have music to cut since I signed up for a holiday show. Wish me luck.