August 23, 2018

My Double Axel Saga in My...

This is 30.
WARNING: I'm going to have real talk in this article about my age that I'll forever deny in future clucks. 

Since I turned 30 and began my midlife crisis fading away from show hen life, I have been clinging to recording my go-to, somewhat-challenging trick: the double axel. The video recording started on my 30th birthday, when I thought it would be cool to capture me doing a double axel on this
significant, ancient birthday, as well as on a battered hip. (30-year-old birds bruise easily.) That same week, I left my Hen on Ice show of 4 years and faced midlife confusion, rejection, and existential dread, with some ice skating in between.


A few months and a few more short ice show contracts later, I decided to hurl myself into some Cinco de Mayo hangover double axels. They went better than they should have and looked respectable on a phone screen; a new habit was born. I skated to show myself, my friends, and my fan that I could still kind of ice skate as an old, mostly-retired, show hen.

Although I started sharing double axel videos every few weeks, it became especially important to share on my first skate after a birthday.
First 31-year-old double axel!
First 32-year-old double axel!
I recently captured my first 33-year-old double axel. Currently reading Johnny Weir's memoir, I thought this added inspiration would make my new year's double axel even easier. It didn't.

The 7 seconds on the Internet look the same as all the younger double axel videos, and that was the ultimate goal. But I'm here to confess (for ratings) that the process was a little harder and there were more outtakes than ever before.

The struggle of a few unsuccessful attempts reminded me that there will be a day where I can no longer do my signature trick. I thought for a fleeting moment, "Is today that devastating day?" It wasn't. Whew.

There are things I could do to avoid this struggle, such as skate more. It's an easy fix until my body becomes broken, but I've enjoyed years of double axels where I don't really need to try or think. So for now, I'll keep finding that balance of minimal effort for 7 filtered seconds of a 34-year-old double axel.

Double axels: A Journey in My 30s.

This is 30:

Then I turned 31 but didn't document the moment properly:


Then I turned 32 and learned how to document properly:

And 33. Next stop: 34!




KEEP READING! Life is a picnic sometimes.
"A Scrappy Arrival."
"Changing the World One Trash Can at a Time." 

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