And can I tell you that those rinks were cold?
Ice cold!
You've all heard the stories about hockey parents: out shoveling in the dark to be at the rink before 5am, driving to Quebec in a blizzard, trying to tie skates when your fingers are frozen claws, standing on concrete so cold your toes might sting if you'd had any feeling left in them, skipping a day at the beach to pull on overcoats and gloves, having your snot hang in icicles from your nose, dribbling hot chocolate down your chin because your hands won't stop shaking or your teeth chattering....well those stories, dear readers, are not just romantic folklore. That was our life. Been there, done that....over and over and over again!
I'm sure you know the definition of insanity (doing the same thing over again while expecting different outcomes)...that was us, INSANE. But the silver lining was that we had plenty of company in the deep freeze, they are now life-long friends, who shared the asylum with us. Somehow we managed to convince ourselves there was no place else we'd rather be...that's MY definition of Insanity!
Can I tell you about the rinks? Did I mention they were cold? Some far more than others. The community-owned rinks were pretty severe, but by far the worst offenders were the private school rinks... Dexter, Fessenden, Milton Academy, St. Seb's. They were worse than barns....a barn would have been an improvement. Milton only had three walls! Dexter was a Coleman cooler with aluminum sides. Seriously, these schools charged a zillion dollars for tuition, had billionaire alums and benefactors, and they couldn't afford to insulate their rinks? But at least they had rinks on campus. Our younger son's school, Thayer, didn't even have its own rink....and the private facility where they skated, Pilgrim Arena, was just another fancy icebox.
But lo and behold, just as our sons were aging out of youth and high-school hockey, newer rinks were built that actually took pity on the frostbitten parents. Rinks today have Dunkin Donuts (Bridgewater) and warm lounges with adult beverages in the arena and shopping malls next door (Marlboro). But unfortunately our sons were born a decade too early and we didn't get to enjoy the luxury of the new and improved private school rinks. Milton Academy, Dexter, Andover, BB&N....they all built brand new sports complexes. St.Sebs renovated and insulated their arena. and Thayer Academy moved their game to a brand new sportplex in Canton.
Now when one of my dear high school friends (MJ) heard about our 35 dates, she recommended a hockey game. Her younger son, who has the same name as our younger son, is now a student at Thayer and she thought we'd enjoy strolling back down memory lane to watch the black and orange play. When I told TH, he loved the idea. (Did I mention all those hours in the cold numbed our minds and killed off many brain cells?)
However, when MJ sent us the link to the team's schedule, we discovered there was only one game we could attend. It was an Away game against Roxbury Latin and it was being played at Dexter. Had this been 15 years earlier, we would have passed on the opportunity to watch one more game in that frozen tin can. But we didn't hesitate because Dexter now has a beautiful (warm) new sports arena.
We were quite impressed as we drove onto the campus where there is now a grand planetarium as well. And we were able to park on the roof of the complex and take an indoor staircase two flights down to the bleachers. Now THIS is how to watch a hockey game.
We didn't see our friends in the stands, but we watched the players warming up to see if we could pick out their son. Just as we realized that the home team was wearing Dexter sweaters, we heard someone behind us ask where the Roxbury Latin team was playing. We also heard the dreaded answer: "Oh, they're playing Thayer... across the street... in the old rink."
TH and I just looked at each other and grinned like fools. We didn't say a word, just followed that man out the door, across the street, down the ramp, and into our worst nightmare. The OLD Dexter rink.
It was like stepping back in time. Nothing had changed. It was still brutally cold, and you had to stand on aluminum bleachers (with no backs) to get your toes off the floor and to (barely) see over the safety glass.
And MJ never showed, she was in Nashville visiting another son, but her husband JJ soon joined us and it was good to see him.
Once we got over the absurdity of the situation, we did enjoy watching the game. Our son's old athletic director was behind the bench, and MJ's son played a phenomenal game. He has incredible speed and great finesse, although he did get a penalty which brought back fond memories of our own 'Jack in the Box.' He's one of the bigger players on the team, and I have a feeling we'll be watching him play more often (in warmer rinks, of course). Here's a photo of #28.
Turns out that he was not the only player we knew on the team. There were three other players (from both teams) with South Boston connections, so we enjoyed cheering for this game. But one thing TH and I both noticed....we were pretty much the only spectators clapping. It was the quietest crowd I'd ever heard! The game was a 4-0 shutout in Thayer's favor, but you'd never know because neither side was cheering. Are today's hockey parents so pampered by their plush new rinks that their hands froze inside their pockets when they experienced old-school hockey?
When that final buzzer sounded, we couldn't get out of there fast enough and into our heated car where we attempted to get the blood circulating in our extremeties again. The date was far from over, however, as we hadn't eaten yet. But first we had to make a stop at a wake in Cambridge for the mother of TH's co-worker. Did I mention this was a Friday nite? And that we had to travel from Brookline to Cambridge at rush hour on snow-clogged streets that were mostly reduced to one lane? Needless to say, we had PLENTY of time to thaw our fingers and toes.
After the wake, we drove through Inman Square and we were so hungry that we stopped at the first restaurant that had a parking space out front. Turned out to be a very good choice: S&S Restaurant.
This restaurant has apparently been open since 1919, and it has a genuine kosher deli in addition to many other menu selections. We arrived around 6:30 and they seated us in the lounge area, where we quickly noticed that every patron, every server, even the lovely barmaid, had grey hair. I almost expected them to ask us for senior citizen IDs. The couples sitting at the bar appeared to be regulars that knew each other and dined there often. I think I would enjoy hanging out with that crew if we lived closer.
The champagne was served by the glass and it was just "eh", but my meal was delicious. I had crab and shrimp cakes in the most delicious lemon sauce, with butternut squash. TH had merlot and a Rachel (LOL). He was most excited about the half-sour pickles. Then we shared a molten lava chocolate cake with whipped cream and ice cream. Delicious. I swear I would eat liver if it had whipped cream on it...can never get enough!! I highly recommend the S&S Restaurant if you are ever in Inman Square.
I think, however, we may have to stop including restaurants as part of our dates, because it's hard to be good when there are so many delicious (fattening) options to wash down with wine. And TH rarely passes up dessert, that of course I need to sample. With all this snow, we can't ride our bikes or take walks with our grandson....so unless we're shoveling, we are pretty sedentary in the winter.
What's that, you say.. visit a gym?
What's that?
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