R is for Roller Skates

It's all my preschool's fault, really.  They took us on a field trip to Cal Skate to go roller skating.  I got the rest of my family to try it.  And all of a sudden going roller skating on Saturday at Cal Skate was a weekly thing for like 8 years or so!

My roller skating style was technically proficient.  I wasn't flashy and couldn't do cool dance steps like I saw some of the adults doing at the time.  However, I could skate forwards, backwards and sideways.  I could spin and shoot the duck.  My sister and I went through the various lessons, but we stopped when they wanted to start teaching us axel jumps and ice dancing (no thanks).

Years later, I took my love of roller skating to UC Davis.  I found skating around the flat campus and town of Davis to be a fun alternative to biking around.  I still recall one time arriving late to class where I skated into the classroom, spun around and sat down in a chair in the front row.  Even the professor laughed at that entrance.

These days, I don't get as many opportunities to skate as I like.  It's hard to find flat roads and surfaces and the roller rinks are fewer and further in between than they used to be.  Fortunately my kids like to go skating, so occasionally when we visit my folks we go hit up Cal Skate.  You know, for old times sake.  Funky Town?