Back on the ice
Hit and Miss #441
The last few weeks have included a solid amount of skating. Not so much that I feel I fully wrung the Canal season’s potential, but enough that I feel satisfied, and won’t feel too poorly when it closes.
Out on the ice yesterday, I was struck by just how many people there were, particularly at the hub sites (like the first kilometre, nearest Parliament, or the rest areas at Fifth and Dow’s Lake). The density! The familiar thought experiment came to mind: how much space would you need to mass the same number of people if they were all in cars?
Not only were all these people massed and moving, they didn’t need formal rules or physical structure to constrain or shape their movement. Norms and attention are plenty enough. Skate to the right when you can, don’t cut folks off, and mind the people in front of you.
It reminded me of Adam Gopnik’s account of learning to drive later in life. One of his central observations was that driving is a deeply democratic act: identifying and moving into openings when they present themselves; yielding and giving space to enable others to do the same. And all this without much verbal communication.1
I enjoy this when driving, but I enjoy it far more when skating, where the stakes feel lower and you live the joy of self-powered movement and the sun in your face.
Yesterday, I’m glad I fully lived that joy—and I look forward to next time, whether next week or next year.
All the best for the week ahead!
Lucas
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On a tangent, I think of how low-resolution our on-road communication is. Turn signals, yes, headlights and a honk, sure. Other than that, there’s not much more than “Arturo’s all purpose hand”, as described by Gopnik: ‘the one that means “thank you,” “fuck you,” “who cares about you”—is the proper hand for a citizen. It broadcast civility, while keeping its private meanings to itself.’ ↩