Marvels of Matching

Over the past two months I've seen so many people wearing their Red Vancouver 2010 mitts. It was exciting each and every time to see that I was wearing the same mitts as someone else (and that they were obviously as excited about the Olympics as I was), and it reminded me how fabulous I think it is to match!

It's odd in a way, because aren't we supposed to want to stand out? be individual? not share our pants/shoes/socks/accessories/style with others? And matching, in some ways, goes against all that. In one of my favourite episodes of Beverly Hills 90210 Brenda and Kelly wore the exact same dress to the prom. How terrible!! High school prom dresses and wanting to be unique aside, it's really fun to match! Plus it's very easy to do it in a way that combines individuality with connectedness by matching with friends who don't live in the same place as me.

Matching with live-on-the-other-side of the continent friends is great. When visiting K. a while ago, we were shoe shopping and decided to buy the exact same pair of these tan coloured low heeled shoes because we don't live in the same place! In truth, I don't think I'd really mind that much going to the same party or restaurant or wherever wearing the same shoes as K. In fact, I think I'd be pretty proud of it. But it is nice to be the only person at the restaurant/party/wherever with the really cool shoes everyone compliments you on. (In fact now that I think of it, A. and I had very similar striped green and navy blues shirts our freshman year at Berkeley. One time I told him he had to wear that shirt the next day, and then I wore my version too. So I guess I do like matching in all its guises!) L. and I were in New York in December and she admired my pants. I told her which store I had bought them at (conveniently they have locations around the world), and the next day L. owned the exact same pair. Talk about teamwork! And matching! Another day in December I was at Bath & Body Works to buy some bubble bath when I came across these fuzzy, cozy pink socks. Before I knew it, I was leaving the store with some bubble bath, and 2 pairs of identical pink socks - one for me, and one for S. I was very excited to write in the card that accompanied S.'s socks that I had a pair too, and that we now matched!

So for me, matching with friends (especially far away friends) is lovely. Every time I wear the tan shoes I think of K., and the pink socks I think of S. I know I'd choose all my favourite people living in the same city over never getting to match with anyone again in my life; but since I know I can't have that, matching is a very good alternative.

Rivers to skate away on

I was in Ottawa last Friday, and finally got a chance to skate on the Rideau Canal, the world's longest skating rink. Unfortunately, timing issues and lack of skate rentals downtown conspired against us, meaning we didn't get on the ice until it was dark. And it just wasn't as good. The lighting was pretty bad, making it difficult to see - pretty necessary when skating on a bumpy, naturally frozen surface. I'm still glad I got the chance to skate on it though. And I'd like to think that if I lived in Ottawa I'd skate on it as often as possible. Apparently some students, depending on where they live in Ottawa, are able to skate to their university during the winter. How cool is that! As much as I love walking places, I think I'd be happy to skate places instead for 3 months of every year. The only problem would be where to put your skates once you reached your destination. Although I did see a fair share of people walking the streets of Ottawa (particularly those close to the Canal) with their skates slung over their shoulders. You could tell they were seasoned skaters...

Skating is definitely one of my favourite parts of winter; and while it probably is extra nice to do it outside, I like indoor rinks too. They all share this particular smell of artificial ice, excitement, and cheerfulness. Though most skating rinks (indoor and outdoor) share the same shape I don't get tired of it. I can go round and round and round, never feeling bored or dizzy. It is especially easy to not notice the same old pattern when skating with someone else. (My favourites being S. and L. and J. who did a phenomenal job when we skated with him at Rockfeller Center!)

So while I generally do prefer skating with others, I wish I felt better about skating alone. I have no problem swimming alone (in oceans or swimming pools) or walking alone when other people are in the pool or on the street. But I don't like skating alone in Toronto. I went to the local outdoor rink near my house one time last winter and I just felt awkward. Everyone else was there with their kids or their friends or someone, and even though I'm sure no one was staring at me or gave a second (or even a first) thought to the fact that I was there alone, I didn't like it. With swimming your face is in the water at least half the time, and with walking, you're going somewhere, but skating alone on a rink with other people is really unappealing to me. It's annoying too because neither S. nor L. nor J. live in Toronto. So I really have not been very good about going skating this winter, despite it being something I love.

I would be totally happy, however, to skate alone on a totally secluded rink with no one else around. I would love that actually. It's the other people and the zamboni guys and the ice monitors and all the other people that have every right to be on a public rink that get in the way of my dreams! A long standing fantasy of mine, which I hope to one day fulfill, is to spend a week at some secluded cabin somewhere in the French (or Swiss, or maybe even Italian or Austrian - I am not picky) Alps, a short walk away from a gorgeous and perpetually empty Alpine lake frozen into a skating rink. (Something like the picture below, except I'd be the only person on it.) Someone else (or multiple people) could be with me at the cabin but the lake/skating rink would be all mine. Every morning (and maybe again around twilight) I'd sling my skates over my shoulder and walk to the skating lake where I'd skate round and round, in perfect solitude with no one else around, to my heart's content.

In the meantime, I think I will try to get in some more skating before winter ends!