Is it skating time?

It's been quite a few years since our frozen (and snow-free) pond coincided with a weekend, but this looks like the perfect weekend for ice skating. Our pond is small, but fun for 2 or 3 people at a time.

We used to have skating parties at the farm. We'd call up family and friends, and Dave would build a bonfire on the shore, and haul down chairs and a big stack of wood. I'd make bread and salad and a huge pot of soup for apres-skating. We'd have so much fun, we'd skate long after dark with the light from the bonfire, and a few well-placed lanterns. Those who had skates would bring them, and over the years we'd buy thrift-store skates, until we had a pretty good assortment of sizes.

These pictures are from 1989, the best year we've had for skating. It stayed cold and clear for several weeks, and we skated every night after work, and on the weekends. This is me skating with our niece, Sarah. This was also the year that Grandma Ruth came to watch, warmly dressed in a full-length mink coat!