A Season in Review

This year's rink use sort of fizzled out at the end.  There were no dramatic last skates by me or anyone else in the family, or realization that the rink's time was up; something I try to be cognizant of once February rolls around.  This was probably the earliest the rink was rendered unusable, but it was our most successful year of skating by far, yielding nearly 2 months of good skating and low maintenance.

Putting some English on it
I do know that the ice, in the international spirit of the Olympics, had some "shuffler arounders" from England on it on February 13th,  just as the days started becoming longer and the sun began shining stronger.  Here are Caroline, Zoe, and Victoria, perhaps the very last ones to slide around on the 2009/2010 Millin Four-em ice sheet.

Season Recap
Winter is a busy time for us, both on and off our ice but this year's rink related activities started off with a bit of a surprise. I received a call from an NHL.com writer and was interviewed in a feature story on backyard rinks for the Winter Classic at Fenway.  From there, things took off and the ice was used heavily, by 'regulars' who can lace their own skates and by others putting them on for the first time.  We were able to skate on Christmas Day and New Year's Eve, and Danny and his friends scattered more tennis balls and hockey pucks around the yard than I care to imagine.  Caroline also made good use of the ice and had friends over to slide around in their boots after school and skated to music on the weekends.

Off Ice Activities
Danny's 45 game youth hockey schedule has been tremendously successful and, most importantly, fun for all of us. The Pee Wee 2's won their District and compete this weekend in Marlboro, MA at the State Tournament.  Danny's on ice decisions, puck moving ability, and confidence as defenseman make me proud, and Debbie is happy that he has survived his first year with checking (and I am surprised at how much he loves to hit).

I also got up the nerve to attend a fundraiser for the Jack Falla Fund, held at the BU School of Communications, and was really glad I did.  I met some folks that, up until that point, I only knew by email and blogging, and the four Millins wound up having a great night.  The list of people I meet because of my rink is expanding by the year and that's a good thing.

The End is Here
After a storm blew through here last week, packed with 60 mph wind gusts, it unceremoniously (for you , Derek Sanderson) deposited a couple of inches of rain and lots of debris into what's left of the rink - the storm also blew our basketball hoop off it's base which fell perfectly between our two vehicles.  Today I set up the siphon hose and began the draining process, and surveyed the wreckage that lay in and around the rink. It was a giant mess, but it was also a great season.