A group of Thelma & Louise members (quite literally) threw caution to the wind and celebrated that most famous of Scottish affairs on Burns Night by trying our hand at the sport of curling preceded by Sunday lunch. I did not make the lunch by I heard it was delicious and those that attended it said it was wonderful and they used the time to discuss new trips for the year ahead.
Some members were more enthusiastic than others about the idea of curling. Joni and her husband came down all the way from Shropshire because they loved the idea of “throwing stones on the ice” and making them slide. Others were a bit worried. Roserevived confessed she was never a sporty person but once on ice she surprised everyone, even herself. In my opinion she is one to watch for the future.
So after a helpful video and a lesson on the basics we got down to the hilarious business of trying to control these large curling stones. The movement works something like this: Bend your legs, bum up, one step backwards with your left leg, one step forward and release the stone. At this point I heard Compogirl saying “Ana, what trouble have you got me into this time!”. But we all had fun and even though our trainer was pretty competitive, we managed to convince her that we were there just to have a bit of fun.
After an amusing hour of perfecting our technique of sliding the stones and brushing the ice, we finally started to land the stones in the scoring area on the ice. And this is just because the ladies discovered the ‘Cue’ - a helpful extension arm to push the stone with, without bending. Far more elegant and easy.
This was the first time we had the opportunity to try curling. It is harder than it looks but still lots of fun.
So have a go! It doesn't matter if you haven't done it before. Would I do it again? Absolutely, especially with my travel buddies.
See you at our next meeting!