Skating Around On A Large Oval

Over in Brewer Park here in Old Ottawa South, a minute's walk from my front door, I've noticed preparations underway to get the long outdoor skating oval ready for skaters, such as this fellow from last winter. Neighbourhood volunteers look after the ice, as is generally the case with any flooded ice surface in parks here (often used for outdoor hockey games across the land, because, well... we're Canadians, and that's what Canadians do, along with knowing how to make love in a canoe). What sets this skating oval apart is that it's the same regulation size as the skating ovals you'll see for long or short track speed skating in the Winter Olympics, a very rare thing for an outdoor skating surface. 

We're also waiting on the Rideau Canal to be ready for skating. There have been the footsteps of people on the surface, but it'll still be a few days at least. We certainly do have the cold temperatures for it, of course.

Mind you, I've never learned how to skate, so it's kind of a moot point.