During the relaxation portion of Friday's yoga session, my fellow yoginis and I stretched out on our mats, snug and horizontal under our blankets. After a few moments of deep breathing, our teacher asked us to listen to a piece of music and imagine we were skating on a moonlit country pond.
The musical selection was a lilting piano piece with small orchestra accompaniment, perfect for imaginative gliding and twirling. As we visualized the scene, Tia suggested smooth, white ice, and stars sparkling overhead in the night sky.
My husband Mark and I leave soon for Christmas at my daughter Hannah's apartment in New York City, so my own personal skating site was not an Iowa farm pond but the rink at Rockefeller Center in Midtown Manhattan. Only 150 skaters at a time are 
allowed to spin beneath the glittering 80-foot-tall Christmas tree. Tourists and New Yorkers glide around the lovely, tiny plaza, providing unique seasonal entertainment for diners watching through the windows of the Sea Grill and Rock Center Cafe.
My daughter Mary is in Washington DC this month, performing at Woolly Mammoth Theater, exploring our nation's capital, and recording her impressions in her daily blog PaperGirl. Earlier Friday morning, I'd read Mary's latest post, "Ice Princess-eez," about skating with her cast mates the previous afternoon at an outdoor rink at the Smithsonian sculpture garden.
The day after Christmas, Mark and I, Hannah, Mary, Mary's husband Steve, and my daughter Rebecca, are all taking a train to DC to spend a few days in a city most of us don't know well. We'll visit museums, shop, and go to Mary's show. Maybe we'll skate!
Today's Fortune Cookie Fortune:
You will hope to travel safely.