a really beautiful article. It’s not just about ice skating, but about a community space, a place where individuals are supported, where groups come together, where people are people. What struck me as well was the attention to little bits of lives outside the rink and how the rink connects.

Once again, Blair finds the beauty, the mystery, the magic, and the humanity in ordinary places. The lesson? All of it is all around you all the time if you take the time to look and listen.

This is utterly lovely. There are so many reasons people skate, and so many types of people at every rink. Being invited into that kind of hyper-local community for a day is a bit of magic. (Also: I wish the rink I skate at had a fireplace!!)

Not something I'd normally read, but I guess that's the power of Social Media. This is such a lovely piece of writing, and the stories and observations very much reminded me of @mirandakeeling.com

Every hockey parent reading a subhed about a reporter who spent 14 hrs at an ice rink:

Wonderful, empathetic article that's bigger than its surface subject matter. Yeah, typical Blair!

obviously no one writes to the beauty of things like Blair Braverman, but this one feels v precious & tender for me rn: do I keep on skating with my flat feet & beat-up ankles and clumsy 38yo bones? well, maybe. maybe.

Last month, @outsidemag.bsky.social sent me to spend 14 hours in a suburban ice rink, learning the stories of everyone I met. Why do they skate? I asked. To feel free, they told me. To feel God. To forget, for a minute, what they've done.

Eight sled dogs of Hanukkah and Pepé in the lead, of course! As made by @blairbraverman.bsky.social from a while back. 😍

"Slightly absurd and deeply felt" is pretty much always my goal, so this means a lot. Thank you 😭

A truly remarkable piece!

This brief article somehow managed to be both heartbreaking and uplifting in ways I didn’t expect. At all.

For those who might have forgotten - she really climbed trees.

Blair! I hear Colbert is writing recipes now bsky.app/profile/olde...

Flame is doing great! At 12, she still has a 5-foot vertical and can jump any fence. She says it’s because she eats a lot of bread.

Why did this make me cry

As always, Blair Braverman can make me love about anything. This time? A dead rat named Meatball. Thanks, Blair - we all need the reminders to find beauty, connection, and love everywhere. ❤️

For this month’s @outsidemag.bsky.social column, I took a rat taxidermy class, and it was… surprisingly sweet? As the teacher said, “We’re reclaiming what’s beautiful and interesting about the things we’ve been told are bad or gross.” I love my rat. His name is Meatball.

Hey y’all! We have the friggin’ Northern Lights in North Texas. I’m losing my nerd mind with how cool this is and Susan would like for me to stop talking about it.

Boo says you’re dang right I’m the fastest dog in the world!

Story time! @blairbraverman.bsky.social @oliviawhen.com

This month's experiment for @outsidemag.bsky.social: I spent a night with a team of professional ghost hunters in a condemned rectory. Happy almost-halloween! www.outsideonline.com/culture/essa...

Huge thank you @blairbraverman.bsky.social for trusting me with your dogs and Leap's story!! 💕 As a longtime uglydog, I couldn't be happier. Easily some of the best reference photos and videos I've ever gotten.

Leap says thank you all for the kindest words on her pub day!!!

I was so lucky to meet Leap!

A forest bath, you say?

Here’s Lucy forest bathing back in the day

Love this idea that dogs are the official forest bathing pros.

My latest for Outside is an investigation into forest bathing, which all about finding nature where you can: "At the time, she was working with clients in care facilities. She started bringing in baskets of grass that they could step in with their bare feet." www.outsideonline.com/culture/essa...

Depends on the use, I think. Fabricating evidence to frame a very innocent, for example, would be BAD But I think as long as you have Leap’s permission this particular example should be ok

she stood on the books, which was extremely helpful

Is it illegal to forge your dog's signature? Asking for an author.

#UglyDogs @blairbraverman.bsky.social is on the new You’re Wrong About! (Also it is about a terrific book Blair recently reviewed that I loved.)

Exciting news! We’ve teamed up with @thegoldenratio4.bsky.social & @blairbraverman.bsky.social to bring you a Leap’ing good package. Includes signature, bookmark & Voodoo sticker. 🐕🐶🐕 honestdogbooks.com/shop/all-dogs

For this month's experiment for @outsidemag.bsky.social, I tested out a sensory deprivation tank, along with special guest Sarah Marshall of @yourewrongabout.bsky.social. We both loved it?! www.outsideonline.com/health/welln...

Boo says, who? Me?! My beautiful face?! Duh!

@oliviawhen.com is doing #Doggust here, too, give her a follow #UglyDogs! Can’t wait for the book!

I agree completely -- she does such an incredible job with dogs as individuals. I mean. GRONCH??!!!

Flame and I are sooo excited to share a first peek at The Day Leap Soared, featuring breathtaking gouache paintings by @oliviawhen.com!!

A story from a few years back, when the team got caught in a whiteout blizzard. Hari is very old now, but he's still the sweetest gentleman I know.

"Survival stories are rarely about women, and even less often do they recognize traditionally female tasks as the actual work of survival — not decorations of life, but the fight for life at its most essential." Wow from @blairbraverman.bsky.social Home production as SURVIVAL. Gift link.

For @outsidemag.bsky.social , I've been trying a series of micro-adventures--including, most recently, three minutes in a -200F freezer. It kinda felt like home. (Thanks, as always, to my @abigailwise.bsky.social!) www.outsideonline.com/health/welln...

An immediate add to my TBR stack (tower?): @blairbraverman.bsky.social's description of "holding my breath as I read at top speed, wandering rooms in search of someone to read aloud to, and placing the book facedown, arrested by quiet statements that left me reeling" is my favourite kind of reading.

Yes! Gift link is here: www.nytimes.com/2025/07/08/b...

I reviewed Sophie Elmhirst’s A Marriage at Sea for @nytimes.com and friends, let me tell you, this book is magnificent. What an absolute (and absolutely haunting) pleasure. 🌊https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/08/books/review/a-marriage-at-sea-sophie-elmhirst.html

We spent many a glorious summer evening in the backyard tent when my kids were little. I suggest hot dogs, s’mores, and ghost stories. No car travel with toddlers and easy access to a bathroom? Perfect. ⛺️

Summer, 17, camp counselor. 2 weeks on the grubby ponds at the Lake Forest Academy, then 1 blissful week leading middle-schoolers in the BWCA. My mom's house was little, and hot, so I pitched my tent in the backyard. She'd sit on the back step, cigarette in hand, and ask "Why are you so weird?"

For next time—Suburban deck camping is infinitely preferable to yard camping! 😆