Great Skate #32 - The Shops at Don Mills skating rink

On Friday, February 27, 2015, my friend Cathy braved the cold to join me at the Shops at Don Mills for Great Skate #32.

The skating rink is a small oval in the centre of an open-air shopping plaza. It's surrounded by high-end stores and restaurants, making skating there quite a different experience from my recent adventure at Arrowhead Provincial Park.

We were the only skaters there when we arrived. Soon we were joined by three others. If the mall is counting on the rink to attract more potential customers, they might need to rethink that strategy. Or maybe it was just too cold or too early in the evening for many people to be out.

Skating with a friend is a terrific way to catch up with each other's lives. It's a bit like having a conversation in a car - the sense of forward movement keeps the ideas and questions flowing.

Of course, sitting in a cosy cafe and enjoying a hot cup of tea also fosters good conversation. That's the nice thing about skating at a mall. When your toes are painfully cold and you can't feel your fingers anymore, you can always find somewhere to warm up. Which is exactly what we did.



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