Here is a photo, taken from a video, of me skating with a friend named Joe. He's learning to skate and doesn't want to get injured in the process, thus the derby gear. He is simultaneously learning how to referee for derby so he also skates with them too. Recently he's been at the rink during classic dance skate sessions just to get more skate miles. During the couples only time, which is three songs long, solo skaters sit there and watch some of the dance skaters take the floor, any two hand-holding skaters qualify as a couple, so any ole'duo is permitted. Many wobbly one-time skaters occupy the floor during this time when they'd be better off watching. Personally, I love to watch the particularly fabulous couple skaters dancing by but sometimes I get a bit miffed by having to sit out three whole back-to-back numbers (songs). A few weeks back I decided to ask Joe to skate with me during the couples-only numbers and we've been doing this ever since. I don a helmet and sometimes knee pads, just so we'd look more coordinated. I had a blast; I waved to people I knew as Joe pulled me around the corners. What a hoot! Joe is just learning crossovers so we certainly don't do anything resembling dance, but we do keep moving, and we haven't fallen down yet. It's fun to skate about with a partner instead of sitting on a bench.
