A Spark, A Flame

I don't remember what grade I was in, though if I did the math I could easily figure it out, but I fondly remember the Calgary Winter Olympics of 1988. I remember Heidi and Howdy, the polar bear brother and sister mascots of the games. They were very cute and I remember getting coloring pages with them, all in various winter sports. If memory serves I spent extra close detail coloring the figure skating ones. I remember the Closing Ceremonies with all its pageantry. There was a sort of play on ice if you will, with lots of skaters dressed as Mounties on horses. A whole Cowboys and Indians kind of thing. It was Calgary after all and they love a good rodeo. I remember Kd Lang singing some crazy foot stomping song at the end of the evening. (Her version of Hallelujah at the Vancouver opening ceremonies was amazing though she looked more like Elton John) Oddly enough I don't remember the Opening Ceremonies of Calgary but I remember Terry Fox bringing in the Olympic Flame. I do remember watching skiing on TV and figure skating of course. Watching Brian Orser skate. I did a speech on him; our topic was our hero's. Pat Price did his on his dad. He won the competition. Pandering!!! But what I also remember was the Rabbit Lake Central School Grades 4,5 & 6 Olympics. I remember our torch relay. We had some sort of golden candle stick with a paper flame on the top and we "ran" it from the school to the rink. A distance of about 1/2 a mile, if you went the long way. I was in the front of the relay on my cross-country skis and yelled the words "switch" about every 15 seconds so that everyone in the class could have a turn "carrying the flame" and participating in the Olympic spirit. I don't remember all of our events but I think we did some form or Luge or Bobsled with our toboggans racing down a hill. We had a Cross-Country race, which I won thank you very much. I think there may have been a Curling match. I do remember Pairs Skating. I think my partner was Leslie Beacott or Robyn Plumber. I know that Adelle, crap I can't remember her last name, was paired with Michael McKenzie and they won gold. So I'm thinking I got silver. (bronze would just not be acceptable) I remember making medals out of paper with my class mates. (thank goodness someone had that box of 64 crayons) I also remember Speed Skating. Not sure if I placed in that one, although with figure skates you can get some good push-off of your "toe pick!" I remember it being a really fun day of competition but more importantly the spirit of comradery was there. We all came together as a class and organized something really fun. We celebrated wins together, and really there were no losers. In our own middle-of-nowhere way we felt like we were really there in Calgary competing and celebrating with Olympic Champions new and old. We felt a sense of pride for our country and for ourselves. Our teacher was a smart lady. She instilled in us the idea that anything was possible. Even though we were from a small town we could go anywhere and do anything. Thank you Mrs. Freathy.

Currently my roommate has a girl over. He has been trying, with little success, to win the heart of said fair maiden. Personally I think he has a one way ticket to Friendsville where they will most likely welcome him with open arms and christen him Mayor. They are watching Curling. Now I myself am a huge fan of the curl. (I'm pretty sure I medaled in the '88 games at Rabbit Lake) Though it may look boring as all hell, it is actually quite a fun sport, combining both skill and strategy. It involves a little physics too, which is always a plus in sport. What is very comical to me is the fact I can overhear him explain to her the finer points of Curling. She is doing the typical girl thing, pretending to act both ignorant and interested. He, on the other hand, knows nothing about Curling. A fact I know as I explained the game to him only this morning. He is using, verbatim, the same words I told him. I don't know what is funnier to me, the fact that they are watching Curling in the first place or that they are pretending to be truly interested in it. Its not exactly the sort of thing date material is made of. I'm guessing that "watching the Olympics" was the theme of said would be date in the first place. A good excuse to get someone to come over for sure. Further more, its not even live Curling they are watching, its the stuff off the DVR from earlier in the day. Its as if this was cleverly orchestrated. I see the plan now. My roommate decides to invite girly over to "watch the Olympics." Unfortunately, due to the morons in Vancouver, tonight's line up is not that interesting. Ice Dance, yawn!!! Skiing looks the same no matter how big or small the hill. And lets face it, Skeleton just looks silly, all be it dangerous. Thus the trap has been baited. Ask the Canadian all he knows about Curling this morning. Then DVR said Tundra Shuffleboard, invite girly over, and impress her with your expertise in the game of the sliding rock. She brought cookies; they ordered Tacos. It has all the makings of a great date. Problem, I'm home. So is the other roommate. I hear her say she has to go. I would to if someone invited me over to watch Curling. For most people its the winter equivalent of chess. I hear the front door close and a single set of footsteps walks back down the hall. The living room and hall lights turn off. Tonight there will be no medal ceremony for the athlete from New Jersey.

Dear Diary, I wonder if there are any of those cookies left?