My husband’s cousin has taken up running as a hobby. And so has his wife. They run every day and they run for long distances. They even ran half-marathons on Thanksgiving morning before coming home to host two dozen family members for dinner. I love them dearly and have enormous admiration for their accomplishments, but I’m sorry, anyone who runs long distances like that and claims to enjoy it? I gotta think they’re a little on the meshuga side. I can’t help it, the idea of aimlessly jogging along has never really appealed to me and seeing what people look like at the end of marathons? That vacant-eyed, I-can’t-remember-what-planet-I-come-from, stare? Yeah, you can keep it. Which isn’t to say I’m a total athletic slug. I played baseball as a kid (yes, baseball, not softball– there were a lot of boys in my neighborhood) and as a teenager, I was in marching band and drum corps and if you don’t think marching music is a sport, you try marching at top speed and playing precision music passages and tell me if you can breathe afterwards. Not to mention the fourteen and sixteen hour rehearsals outside, in the dead of summer. Not a sport, indeed.
But I guess it qualifies me as a little meshuga too, since I loved it.
But my real athletic passion, from the age of four or so, was reserved for figure skating. I wanted nothing more than to be like Dorothy Hamill or Katarina Witt—it was all so beautiful and such a gorgeous expression of art, both visually and musically. And sparkly costumes! What wasn’t to like? However, this obsession presented a wee problem for a kid from Miami. Ice rinks were in kind of short supply, as in there was only one. And my parents, they didn’t get that ice skating thing, at all. But finally, on a trip to New York when I was eight, I finally got to try my passion at a local rink near my cousin’s house. My parents thought if I went and fell on my butt a time or twelve, I’d get it out of my system.
Yeah, not so much.
Much to their chagrin (and bemusement) I was a natural, skating backwards by the end of my first hour on the ice and doing simple turns. So when we got back to Miami, lessons and my first pair of skates followed. I’d love to say that there was a suitably movie-like ending to all of this, and to a certain degree, there was—I was able to compete locally for a few years and I did fairly well, but skating’s an expensive sport and again, Miami’s just not a hotbed for it. My parents were just traditional enough that they weren’t willing to let me go live in the Northeast or out in Colorado, where some of the big training centers were and in retrospect, they were right. There were a lot of activities and interests I wanted to pursue and they knew that if I committed myself to skating that early, I wouldn’t have the chance to do so.
Kind of annoying how parents can be right like that.
However, at the same time, the passion for the sport has stayed with me, especially this time of year, with the weather cooling off and the season getting underway. I can remember what it felt like to lace up my skates and take that first, gliding step onto the ice; the unique smell of a rink at dawn and most of all, the absolute freedom that came with being the only one on a blank, pristine surface, watching my blades cut patterns and using my body to interpret the music.
In some ways, it may have been a sign of things to come. I mean, when it comes down to it, writing is very much like skating. By and large, it’s a very solitary pursuit. The blank page can be likened to a fresh sheet of ice, the words like blades, cutting through and leaving my personal, unique mark behind, and in my case, inspired by the music I’m listening to. Like skating or music or any other artistic form, writing requires a lot of discipline and practice. Then, if you’ve worked very hard and are fortunate enough, you have brief moments when the spotlight shines on you and you’re rewarded for a job well done. So while it’s rare these days that I get to lace up my skates and take a turn around a rink, the passion and sense of exhilaration—that’s with me for a lifetime.
So… what’s your passion?
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Dancing. I studied ballet, jazz, and modern dance from the time I was 7 years old. I even received a bachelors degree in dance. I still take the occasional class and do my exercises nearly everyday, but I don’t really dance anymore, and sometimes I miss it so bad it hurts.
I enjoy ice skating, too.
And I lived in what you would have considered an ideal place.
I started skating when I was 6 because my mother loved Sonia Henning (spelling?). All four of us kids skated. In fact I learned to ice skate before I roller skated.
when I was about ten they built a skating rink in my town. About a mile away. I would walk there, by myself, on Sunday afternoons to skate. I never felt compelled to compete, but I still love it.
I really have no excuse for not skating. There is a rink not far from here, but I guess the passion isn’t there anymore.
Thanks for sharing yours.
cmr
Tennis. I first picked up a racket when I was about seven and that was it. There were courts at a park near my house, so I could ride there on my bike and smack tennis balls around to practice. I loved it – love, love, loved it!
Unfortunately, it all came crashing down when I was fourteen and tore up a knee – in gym class, of all places. It ended any hopes of competing beyond a friendly game. Big sigh. I miss it…
Architecture, I love old buildings, castles, barns, cathedrals. My longsuffering friends and family will testify to me drooling over lead downpipes and Norman arches, lost in a little world of own as I imagine who lived there, who built them, the stories those walls hold.
Mine was dance, too. But we couldn’t afford lessons, so I learned from girls who took them. And when I got to college, I took dance classes (and fencing, another sport I’d wanted to do) and did quite well. I think the summit of my performances was the solo I did in a woman’s Dance Master’s Thesis, but I discovered choreography, and ever since, when I direct children’s theater, I get a lot of pleasure in staging the dances.
Even if we don’t get to follow that passion, I think they enrich our lives in so many ways. And they certainly provide a vein of gold for writers!
Birds
I’m a bird fanatic. I have feeders, and keep running lists of all the birds I spot in the places I have lived. I worked in Raptor rescue and rehabilitation, and owned a parrot.
Now my passion has extended to other flying things, butterflies. I have a 30 x70 foot butterfly garden. It keeps me in shape, and brings around flycatchers and phoebe’s and other song birds that eat insects instead of seed. So it is a win win for me.
History. I love reading historical novels, visiting places, researching…
I wish I had a passion for sport or exercise. That would be very helpful.
Kate
Barbara, I loved reading about your passion for skating. It moved me and reminded me about some things I used to be passionate about that I’ve let slide away from me.
Oh, I love hearing about all of these! (I guess that’s another passion of mine– hearing about other people’s passions.
)
Lone Chatelaine- I actually danced for several years before skating– after all, ballet classes were a lot more accessible than ice rinks. Unfortunately, while I have a great build for skating, it’s counter to what works for classical dance. But I learned a lot that I carried over into skating– these days, I’d actually love to get into a Latin dance class– learn how to tango, in particular. It’s such an intense, beautiful dance. (And as a BTW, my lead character in my next YA is a dancer– I really enjoyed writing her.)
Chris, I would’ve hated you when I was eight! A rink Right There! I would’ve been in bliss. You know, I wonder, if not having gone further with the skating actually helped preserve my passion for it? I never had an opportunity to get burnt out like so many people seem to.
Oh Kimberly, how awful to have it end like that! *shudder* And I’ve always loved watching tennis– one of those sports for which I have very little aptitude (although strangely, I’m not bad at racquetball– go figure) so I have huge admiration for anyone how plays well.
Nell, I totally hear you on architecture! I’ve always had a particular fondness for Painted Ladies although with my inherent laziness when it comes to a house, I can’t even begin to fathom the upkeep for such an elaborate house. What about gardens? To me, those are also fascinating, mostly because I have the world’s BLACKEST thumb! When I went to the Butchart Gardens in Victoria, B.C. I remember walking around, utterly stunned that something so beautiful had been created out of what had once been granite quarries. It was just mind boggling to think of how painstaking that must have been, first the actual quarrying and then, the conversion to gardens. Wandering around something like that really does send the imagination soaring.
Two part response because I find what everyone has to say makes me blather even more than usual–
Even if we don’t get to follow that passion, I think they enrich our lives in so many ways. And they certainly provide a vein of gold for writers!
Amen, Sherwood– and I think that following one passion, even for a bit, has a way of leading us to new and sometimes unexpected passions. Sort of how my passion for reading and history led to my collecting antique cookbooks and developing an early interest in cooking. Just one more piece in a puzzle, as it were.
Chessie, that’s really cool– I have a friend whose son has been very active with Raptors–such amazing birds. My mother has an African Gray and a South American Parrot (can’t remember which kind, specifically) along with a cockatoo and God only knows what else, these days!
Which comes as a surprise to me, since she was never much of an animal person when I was a kid– it was always my grandmother and my sister and myself bringing home the cats and dogs. Funny how things evolve. The butterflies sound really neat– any specific kinds?
Kate, any particular era or are you equal-opportunity with the history? I always loved reading about WWII era on the American homefront. Goes back, too, to my cookbook collection– I have some great WWII era books that describe what life was like in practical terms for the people here in the U.S. during the early forties. One of my favorite books is my 1943 Joy of Cooking with the extra page added that has wartime rationing conversions. Yes, I’ve just outed myself as an even bigger geek than I already am!
Vivi, thank you. You know, it’s funny, the more I thought about this column, the more I realized how, with me, these passions have a way of feeding one into another. So many of them, for example, stem from my enduring love of music, which is perhaps my most deep-seated passion, along with reading. With skating, part of my love for it was how it was a different way in which one could interpret music; a lovely marriage of music and motion. And music remains so very important to me and colors so much of how I think and feel. Funny fact– it was years before I could hear a piece of music and not mentally choreograph a skating routine to it– at some point, choreography evolved into storytelling to the music. Just how I’m hard-wired, I guess.
I wish my passion was something activity related…instead, it was reading. I could read by the time I was three years old and haven’t stopped since.
However, in my adulthood, I’ve developed a “passion” for camping. I love it and we try to go once a season.
I’ve always loved figure skating too, but I grew up in the south with the nearest ice rink two hours away. Dancing was always my passion, but my mother wanted me to take piano lessons, and Mama won out. It wasn’t until I was in my late-teens and could pay for the lessons myself that I finally was able to take dance. I kept it up for several years and enjoyed every minute of it.
History is one of my passions, too. And opera and traveling.
When it comes to sports, it’s riding (wish it wasn’t so expensive and I could keep a horse) and swimming – I’m probably part selkie.
One of the things I’d love to do more is falconry, but it’s almost impossible to get a licence here.
When I was about 12 I fancied myself becoming a D.J. I wanted to learn how to scratch on turn tables. I wanted to make people dance. I used to make mixed tapes. I still have a lot of them. The bottom line for me is that I wanted to get emotions out of people. I’m a writer…go figure.
Oh great, now you got me started. I currently have five host plants for caterpillars in the garden. The whole goal of the garden is to raise butterflies from egg to adult just by creating the habitat for them. So far, I’ve been successful with three species. Gulf Fritilaries, Black Swallowtails, and Monarchs. The Gulf Fritley’s as I like to call them, were my biggest success. I had at least a hundred caterpillars, and counted more than thirty empty chrisalides in the garden. Next spring, I’m hoping that my host plants for Tiger Swallowtails and Spicebush Swallowtails will give me two more types of caterpillar to obsess over.
While I’ve raised three caterpillar species, I’ve seen Cloudless Sulphurs, Sleepy Oranges, Buckeyes, Painted Ladies; Silver-spotted, Fiery, Whirlabout, and Long-tailed skippers; Spicebush, Pipevine, Tiger, and Black swallowtails; Gulf and Varigated Fritilaries, and Monarchs visiting the garden. I’m hoping to plant a paw paw next spring. Maybe I’ll get a Zebra Swallowtail or two. It is a really fun hobby. I have some brilliant pictures.
Oh, and the hummingbirds like the garden too.
Chessie
Lovely post, Barbara–thank you! I love watching ice skating, and maybe I’ll take lessons someday! (Never too old to learn something new, right?) I love ballet, too–didn’t start lessons until I was in college, and now I haven’t taken lessons in five years, but I’m longing to go back. And my daughter’s just started dance classes, so it’s fun to see her learning to enjoy it, too!
Lol Chessie, in case I find those bright green, about 4-5 cm long caterpillars in my geraniums next summer again, I’ll send them to you.
Maybe you can figure out what’s going to become of them. I prefered my geraniums, so I collected the text marker beauties and put them out near the lake a few hundred metres away.
Plant a couple of geraniums out by the lake, then move them to the plants out there away from yours. They will stay on the “sacrificial lamb” plants. I wonder what they are. Hmmm, my caterpillars eat, parsley, milkweed, fennel, passionflower, sassafrass, and sweet bay. They are probably cabbage whites. Do you see plain white butterflies about the size of a half-dollar flying around?
Art. Ever since I was a little snot I took private lessons. I dropped it for YEARS and then, as a Senior in HS took art again. It was a total UREKA moment. I even was nominated for Governor’s School. And I was in the marching band, too. My worst memories were in practices in sleet-my fingers unable to bend-and walking backwards, trying not to fall. Even thinking about it now -marching band rocked. I’m such a geek.:roll:
Now I’m back to art, but music plays a big part.
Nevermind, I just did a quick search. It looks like they are budworms, a caterpillar of a little moth. They can cause havoc in a garden. From what I just read, they are resistant to insecticides, so the best control for them is picking them off and moving them someplace else. Also , they overwinter in soil, so in the spring, don’t plant your geraniums in the same dirt that you used the fall before if you had budworms, and if the geraniums are in beds, till around the bases of the plants to disturb any pupae there.
Thank you, I think that’s the one. Fortunately I only had a few in two of my dozen potted geraniums on the balcony, and I found them in time to save the plants. I’ll replace the earth of those in spring (right now the pots host heather), and make sure to till the larger pots where I don’t replace the earth every year.
The lake is property of the town; I don’t think I’m allowed to plant geraniums there to breed funny looking worms. I live in Germany, and we have lots of Rulez.
(Not that I’m very good at keeping them 
)
Okay, how much am I loving this, y’all? Seriously– I love seeing the conversation that has evolved, even though I’m still utterly clueless about butterflies, but I’m compelled to go looking to find some pictures simply because the names sound so lovely. My father-in-law does bird feeders at their house in the North Carolina mountains and I’m fascinated by the hummingbirds too– such beautiful, amazing creatures, they are.
Ericka, camping sounds like a heck of a passion and like with runners, I admire anyone who gets into it. Me, I didn’t do well during my one and only Girl Scout overnighter. I’m afraid that my idea of “roughing it” is when they don’t leave the chocolate on the pillow!
Lucinda, I love that you kept the dream going until you were able to fulfill it yourself– there’s something special about that sort of delayed gratification, don’t you think?
Gabriele, I have a niece who was a very competitive rider– show jumping. And you’re right– it’s wicked expensive. I think it’s one of the few sports that can make figure skating look almost affordable. I love to travel too, but I’m also such a homebody (not to mention, a bit of an introvert). I have to be slapped sometimes to get going. In fact, my husband and I are planning our first trip by ourselves in more years than I can think of and we’re having a heck of time trying to narrow down the possibilities. Right now, we’re veering between Vancouver and Hawaii, because I’ve always dreamed of seeing the black sand beaches.
Melissa– wanting to be a DJ sounds SO cool– what kind of music? Anything in particular or did you mix from all over?
Fedora– first off, thanks so much and second, never too late to learn!
And I love your joy in seeing your daughter learn how to dance. Mine’s been into musical theatre for a couple of years now and it’s so much fun to see her exuberance and excitement in learning something new.
Eva– heh! Band geek!
We didn’t have freezing sleet to deal with, thank goodness, but we did rehearse right through a hurricane once! Just another day in Florida. 
Oh, and standing during retreats at competitions when it was ninety degrees at night and a hundred percent humidity and the gnats utterly swarming EVERYWHERE and Not. Being. Able. To. Move. 
And I still loved it, so more geek I!
Rock climbing. I’m terrified of heights but was researching climbing for a book and decided to try it for some hands on research a few months ago. I’ve been hooked ever since. I’ve climbed inside and outside and even started doing something called Crossfit to get in better shape for climbing. My friends are completely shocked and amazed because this it totally not like me to do stuff like this.
Other than writing… riding. I used to spend summers at a barn in my early teen years, but got tired of always taking care of other people’s horses and having no decision of my own.
I miss it so much. I know it sounds silly for an adult to say, but there are moments when I remember it, and yeah I might have been unhappy being on the low end of the grunts, but I miss the smells and the feels so bad I tear up. So lately I’ve started sneaking riding into my stories.
Skating….but on wheels. I was the roller skating queen of the world from the age of four. Not rollerblading, but quads, and I just recently ordered some for outside skating.
Now, it’s hiking. I hiked across the French Alps and hike every weekend I can get outside. Next long hike is Scottish Highlands.
Michele, go ride. Do it.
Oh, Melissa, that’s amazing— to be able to overcome a fear and gain a new passion in the bargain. I can only imagine what it must feel like (I’m not nuts about heights either).
I know it sounds silly for an adult to say, but there are moments when I remember it, and yeah I might have been unhappy being on the low end of the grunts, but I miss the smells and the feels so bad I tear up. So lately I’ve started sneaking riding into my stories.
Michele, it most certainly does not sound silly. And the fact that you’re sneaking it into your writing? It’s tapping into those sensations and emotions and getting them down on the page that can really give your work that something unique that touches readers. I think it’s completely awesome. Oh, and what Barbara said. Go. Ride.
Barbara– ha! I was a total clod on quads (I rejoiced when roller blades came along). I just couldn’t get the hang of distributing my balance to the four corners of the boot, but I could center on a blade an eighth of an inch wide. Go figure. And this during the big era of the roller rink, when I was a kid. (Anyone remember that movie “Roller Boogie?”)
And I love reading about your hikes– about all the different things you encounter. I do wish I was more of an outdoor girl, but in Florida, it just never seems worth the effort, at least, not in the summer, which lasts nine months.
You know though, the other activities I’ve always wanted to learn how to do are skiing and surfing–terrifies my husband though, because he has this image of me as reckless and is convinced I’m going to wind up in traction. Poor thing.