My first night of curling

So last night was the inaugural night of curling. First thing I have to say is people were so friendly.

When I arrived, I was greeted, fitted for a pair of specialized curling shoes, ushered into the lounge and introduced to a couple of other newbies. After a few minutes of meeting and greeting, about 30 of us (ages 20's to 50's) gathered on the top floor for a short 45min overview of the basics of the ice, curling etiquette and meeting our instructors. THEN out on the ice we went....

We started slow...good thing it is surprisingly hard to stand on a slider. We were asked to slide around a little, bent down in the ready position and tried to extend into a lunge....my only thought was 'Bambi on ice'. Half of us fell.....everybody laughed. We got a chance to practice a few more times then tried sweeping. Finally we got to practice pushing out of the hack in an attempt to do a proper curling slide. We had instructors with us giving individual help and pointers. There were many falls and lots of laughs but no injuries other than a little pride and some bruised knees.

A couple of quick points: its harder than it looks and this is going to get me better shape. Ottawa Curling Club is a great building and the people are fabulous.

Such a fun night!!!!!!

Can't wait til next Tuesday