Colby and I both have been to Russia, so we aren't surprised by the reports from Russia about the venues being incomplete, unfinished construction sites hiding behind chained linked fences, and visitor's email accounts being hacked. It is Russia, after all. What do you expect?
But the political posturing by President Putin, the threats of potential terrorism, and the debate over whether the Russians will be ready before tomorrow night will not dampen my enthusiasm for the next two weeks. I have figure skating, downhill skiing and curling to watch. What could be more exciting than that?
In honor of the beginning of the Games, I have dug up a blog post I wrote four years ago during the XXI Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver. The date, the location, and the ages of my family have changed, but not much else.
So, enjoy! And...GO TEAM USA!!!!!
As the XXI Winter Olympic Games dominate our television, my
family has been spending a lot of time pondering what winter sport we would be
capable of participating in. With my
daughters, the options are seemingly endless.
Bunny is five and she really could one day become a winter Olympian,
except we live in Kansas where it doesn’t get extremely cold and we don’t get
much snow…and the only activity she has ever participated in is ballet. Olympic prospects don’t look very good for
Bunny, but she is only five.
Elle has decided she could be a speed skater, downhill
skier, snowboarder and a figure skater.
After all, she’s smokin’ with her rollerblades…so what’s the difference
between rollerblading and speed or figure skating? I had to remind her that she is 11 and that
is way over the hill to become a world-class figure or speed skater. Most of these athletes strapped their first
pair of skates or skies on when they were barely out of diapers. Time is not Elle’s friend if she wants to be
an Olympian…I think she will need to find her glory elsewhere.
Then, there is my husband.
Curling is his game. He is not
sure how the game is played and cannot figure out the rules, but he is
convinced that he has the physique for the sport. He also wants to know if they serve beer on
the curling floor, because if they served beer while curling, then that really
is the sport for him. Since I spent
almost five years of my life living in North Dakota and Minnesota, I am, by
default, the expert on curling in our family.
Yes, they drink beer while they play…kind of like bowling.
And then there is my dream of glory. I have no expectations that at 46 I could
ever qualify for a sport, let alone an Olympic sport. I don’t ski and although I know how to ice skate…barely,
I wouldn’t fit in with the figure skating crowd because I still use the wall to
stop. But once upon a time I had dreams
of Olympic glory.
It was 1976, the winter Olympics were in Innsbruck, Austria,
and Dorothy Hamill was the American golden girl. She was graceful, did the Hamill Camel and
she had THE coolest haircut. I wanted to
be Dorothy Hamill so bad. I was
convinced I could be Dorothy Hamill. It
didn’t matter that there was no snow on the ground; no frozen pond near by and
I didn’t know how to skate. Trivial
details. I had roller skates and a
concrete tennis court across the street.
What more did a budding Olympic figure skater need?
Apparently talent. I
had no talent and it took a few nasty falls on the concrete before I figured
that out. When I finally came to my
senses, I took off my skates and walked home, hanging up my dream of Olympic
glory.
However, on occasion I still have an uncontrollable urge to
wear sequins.
