Jews on Christmas: nighttime skating on a frozen lake.

Jared and I met at summer camp when we were 10 years old, and we've been friends ever since. A good friend comes to visit you even when it's freezing outside, and that's the kind of friend Jared is. As Jewish folks who obviously had no Christmas plans, we figured it was the perfect time for him to fly in from NYC for a visit.

I picked Jared up at the airport with a custom sign that I made in honor of our joint Madonna obsession.

I found him!

Then we had a delicious dinner at Lao Laan-Xang, which was quite crowded for Christmas Eve. The next day, after a matinee (The Secret Life of Walter Mitty), it was time for Jared's true Madison experience: skating on a frozen lake at Tenney Park.

I'm a competitive figure skater, but I rarely skate on lakes. I saved an old pair of skates for such occasions. The temperature was 30 degrees that night, which was downright humid for Wisconsin in December. There was a dusting of snow on the lake, and a few flakes were still falling.

The surface was different for me, but I got around just fine.
Jared liked the traction from the snow.

My skating abilities were limited since I was wearing a coat and on a lake. But of course, I had to work in a few tricks:

Scratch spin.

Salchow.

Jared had great balance and a knack for speed:

Taking in the Wisconsin winter!

Moving around kept us warm, and the night was picture perfect.

Posing on the lake.

An awesome night, an great visit, and an out-of-the-ordinary way to enjoy my favorite sport.