Boots of Life

When I was a kid one thing made me happy around this time of year. I would check the mailbox every time I went to my grandparents in hope that the Sears Christmas Catalog had arrived. With a pad of paper in hand I would thumb through the pages and mark what I wanted Santa Claus to bring me for Christmas.  Granted, I would receive much fewer items than what I had listed but I would systematically plot out section by section what I hoped I would get on Christmas morning.  Many of the items were geared toward winter weather fun in the catalog like sleds and ice skates. I never gravitated toward those for obvious reasons.

My first pair of ice skates I am not sure exactly where my parents got them but they were double runners that strapped onto shoes. The story was that I was around three years old.  I don't really remember my first experience but I am told I showed little fear.

By the time I was a little older  around six or seven I had my first pair of recreational skates that had the blades already on the vinyl boots. These are fine for beginners but at that point I really wanted to move up to skates that would allow me to do more. Each time I grew out of skates I would move up to the next level of skating boot.

My first pair of custom made boots I saved for and bought myself. I remember going to see Howard Craker who worked out of a small rink across from the Van Nuys Courthouse. The skates and blades got me through my early times competing. I was so proud that I was able to come up with the money to buy them. Back then basic custom boots cost about $200 and blades were around $125.

The last custom pair I still have. Harlick was always my boot of choice. They were a little more expensive but not near what I recently noticed while checking the Internet.   Instead  of the catalog you can go to Amazon or order directly through the many companies now that make figure skates.

SP-Teri, Harlick and Riedell are still major producers. Some of the newer manufacturer's are Jackson Skates developed by Donald Jackson, a former Canadian and World Champion skater and the futuristic looking skates from Edea out of Italy. Prices range from still under $100 for basic skates and blades to in the one thousand dollars and up for top of the line. You can have your name engraved on them and extra amounts of plush padding inside you might even forget your wearing skates.

I did check the Sears website for what they now offer.  They are definitely not the skates of the old Christmas catalog days but I guess they make any youngster of today ready to still make that list for Santa Claus.

Skating is and will always be a very expensive sport to participate in. Sometimes hard to be a spectator and not a regular participant. The sport still has the allure of beauty, grace and poise.

Boots of Life

Tanned, creased with age and wear
The skates lay still for now
What once glided with grace and speed
Now scratched and a little dull
The memories they stir within my soul
Will continue on through the rest of my life