I often skate, but I rarely do it outdoors.

As I have mentioned before on this blog, I'm a figure skater. I've been skating and competing for almost 21 years, and I can't remember my life without skating. 

Last weekend, my friends Elysha and Scott asked me to come skating with them at the Tenney Park Rink and teach their 2.5 year old daughter, Abby, how to skate. Of course I said yes: I never say no to skating. However, it's notable that in almost 21 years of skating, I had NEVER skated on a pond (I've skated outdoors, but never on a frozen pond). Since January is National Skating Month, what better time to try?

Abby did a great job for a first-timer and was willing to do a little bit of independent skating.

Abby found the snow more interesting than the ice. Here she is taking a break with her mom.

Elysha and I are knitters, so of course we sported our handmade headwear.

Happy National Skating Month!

Holy cow!

This morning I went to the Dane County Farmers' Market at its indoor winter location (Madison Senior Center). Joined by my friends Kat and Bronwen, we perused the market while an acoustic guitarist sang Beach Boys classics. Kat enjoyed a delicious biscotti and Bronwen overheard a conversation about goat whey (she also recently encountered a woman who claimed to sense positive and negative cheese energy-- yup, this really happened). I visited the Gypsy Travelin' Market & Bakery booth, only to discover these cookie gems:

Winged "holy cow" cookies: precious!

Only in dairyland.

December poll results are in...

The poll:

Wisconsinites love their beer. How do you like your beer?


On tap & in a glass. 7 votes
Yuck. I'll have a cocktail instead. 5 votes
Any way I can get it. 3 votes
In a bottle. 2 votes
In a can. 0 votes


Looks like we have some classy beer drinkers! Check out the January poll on the right.