Life — March 8, 1923 — page 7: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# "Teaching the Old Idea to Skate" This is a humorous personal essay by R.C.B. about learning to ice skate in adulthood. The author reflects on being told that "once you had skated, you never forgot," only to discover this wasn't true. The piece describes the awkwardness of returning to skating after years away, including physical clumsiness on the ice and embarrassment watching younger, more graceful skaters. The accompanying illustration depicts a domestic scene: an adult (likely the author) bending over while helping a young child with skates, watched by another adult in a doorway. The caption reads: "Oh, Mama! Alfred's mother has three little kittens and she wants to sell them for nothing!"—a humorous non-sequitur suggesting the child's distraction from the skating lesson.