Death of skating?

Here in Southern Ontario winters are getting warmer, is that not true everywhere? Last winter was our first in Canada, and bitterly cold in the way that only Newcastle or Aberdeen can seem when you are very ill and inappropriately dressed.

It was apparently terribly mild and the locals said, as locals do, that it was nothing compared to the big freeze of..(pick a year).

Statistics Canada agrees, and the skating nuts of which there are many are bemoaning the fact that it is now not cold enough for skating. Last winter many of Toronto`s outdoor rinks oppened then closed again in unseemly haste as the ice melted, several did not open at all.

This season officially begins on Dec.9th, which the parks dept. has determined is the optimum day for outdoor skating(though later than normal), time will tell if the weather agrees with the scientists in the employ of Toronto`s parks dept.

Ornamental lakes in the parks are also fair game for skating, and crucially are FREE, instead of very expensive and time controlled! In a good year you can skate all day in huge open spaces and the very best of Canada can be seen -apparently! It sounds great , but as a none skater will just have to watch, which is also fun. The parks dept. is moving towards artificially cooling the ice indoors or out and the cost to the punter and planet goes up.

Interestingly I read that the outdoor (artificial) rinks that I experienced for the last few years in Leeds are booming all over the notoriously mild and wet UK. If there is one thing you know as an ex-pat, it is that the UK is very mild , has very crowded and narrow roads clogged with people driving stick and drinking tea.....