T

They say humans started to skate somewhere on a cold day in pre-history. Some poor soul faced with a marrow-freezing trek across a frozen lake had the bright idea of strapping a couple of animal bones to his feet so that each short step would be replaced with a much longer glide.

You’ve got to believe that that first skater had to be pretty proud of his own cleverness and showed the family when he got home. And the word spread from there. Besides, it had to be fun, even in the context of the prehistoric daily struggle for survival out in the elements.  When life’s pleasures consist of whatever comforts can be eked out at the edge of a fire in an icy cave, the liberating feeling of gliding along on smooth ice had to be powerful. Powerful enough, it turns out, to carry the skate as a means of transportation and a form of recreation across the ages to the ponds and lakes of Newtown today.

A survey of the frozen bodies of water in town this past week found many skaters gliding, twirling, swooping, and occasionally wiping out altogether – their laughter making these dark days of winter a little less bleak. There were even a few impromptu hockey games udnerway.

 When Northern Europeans first turned up in the new world nearly 400 years ago, they found the North American Indians playing hockey. They played with a ball and field tools that were curved at the ends. The sticks reminded the French explorers who watched the Indians play of a shepherd’s crook, which is called a “hoquet” in French.  In the 19th Century, British newspapers ran an illustration of crew members of the HMS Discovery frolicking on skates in the ice pack at the North Pole. It clearly captured the public’s imagination as a rugged winter activity – or maybe not always so rugged.

By the late 19th Century, gentle ladies were depicted playing hockey on ice at Wimbledon. A skating craze took hold of the United States just before the Civil War, and by the end of the century the sport was fashionable enough to be featured on advertising cards for a Chicago tailor.

By acclamation, all the skaters on Newtown’s ponds and lakes this week agreed that the sport will always be part of winter in New England as long as the ice lasts.

Why?

As the very first skater discovered ice ages ago – it’s fun!