Our Golden Moments

I've had a chance to think about the success of our Olympics over the past week. It does seem to make a difference to throw money at an issue - this is the first time that Canada has ever really supported its athletes and it did make a huge difference. I hope it will continue. It sort of bothers me that everyone will now only think about the men's hockey game, which had its storybook ending, as the biggest event of the Olympics. Those guys always get all the glory and winning the Olympics was simply another 'notch in the belt' to them. I was impressed with our improvements in men's cross-country skiing and with the fact that a few long distance male skaters finally got on the podium. The results in snowboarding and ski-cross were also impressive.

I'd have to say that our media continues to put expectations on athletes without predicted results. This was particularly true of the alpine ski teams. It was interesting to hear that Erik Guay won in Norway on the weekend, but the news media reported he didn't get on the podium at the Olympics. He did come 5th - what's wrong with that???! I think it was a good result in comparison to other years. Kevin Martin was expected to deliver and he did. Most of our gold medallists were people we'd never heard of unless we are sports enthusiasts who follow all the details of events. When will Canada learn to take the pressure off its "expected" medalists?

I disliked the title, "own the podium" - it seemed really rude to invite the world to a competition in your our country and then let them know we plan to "own the podium". I liked that we supported the people financially.

I've also heard many people say that medals should perhaps be considered on a per capita basis. If that's the case, Norway would certainly surpass us - they have a population of only 4.5 million.

I was pleased that everything went so well at the Olympics, especially after a very shaky beginning. I also worried about a major "incident" related to security and I'm relieved it went off okay. The few people I know who attended thought it was great. We all know that the ParaOlympics won't get the same attention. I congratulate the organizers on putting on a good show. I criticize them for their poor budgeting. I get to be one of the many British Columbians who gets to pay for this party.

Maybe Spending Another $100??

I couldn't help but think that perhaps VANOC could have spent just a little more money on giving John Furlong some French lessons before presenting his speech at the closing ceremonies on Feb. 28th. I don't think I've heard French spoken like that since my last year teaching grade 7!! The organizers did a good job, they put on a great show, and it was a bit embarrassing to have someone speaking French that poorly. The organizers overspent by millions of dollars - another $100 wouldn't have been noticeable and a couple of hours of coaching French might have been worth it, I think. More about the Olympics in future posts.

Olympic Sunshine!

Vancouver has been showing itself off with the terrific sunshine and snow clad mountains. We're getting the same thing over here. Friday, we skied at my favorite x-country place in the entire area - near Blueberry/Paulson summit. This picture is the very attractive Mud Lake! Readers can see that the Kootenays is getting the same weather as the west coast - who'd think that would happen in mid-February? Had a great several km ski on Friday and Saturday I got to hang out clothes for the first time in 2010 - let's hear it for Olympic sunshine!

February 17th: Gardening!

Today we had a sunny day in the Koots and this afternoon I actually got out to work in a sunny area of my garden. We decided to create a little extension on an already existing rock wall and have a place to put a few more tomato plants, for a year at least. It was so lovely to work in that sun in shirtsleeves - my first time gardening in February - well, I might have done a bit in the Isle of Man in 2004 but that wasn't MY garden. So exciting to think of things starting to sprout. We've decided to dig up the rhubarb and replant it in the same spot - it's never really thrived and we know that the ground has to be too rocky. Sigh - that means another year without collecting tons of rhubarb and people around here don't grow it like the prairie gardeners!

Another Blue Sky Day in the Koots

We don't get a heck of a lot of sunshine in the Kootenays during winter but yesterday was one of those perfect days. I used to call it an "Alberta blue sky day" but now I tend to use "Arizona blue". A friend and I headed up the Wagon Road at Rossiter Creek (pictured here) and then climbed up the Rossiter Creek Forest Service Road. It was very encouraging to be up there in the early afternoon and the sun had not sunk behind the mountains ..... spring must be nearly here!

Living at Lost Ledge

This past Sunday, Monday and Tuesday we spent some time at the cabin at Lost Ledge. It was lovely to get above the valley cloud for a couple of days and Monday was a relatively bright day. Part of our group headed up Mt. Schroeder for a big 8-hour ski while the other group stayed on the gentle slopes below the cabin. My powder skiing leaves much to be desired and I still snowplow all my turns, but I do feel more confident with the trees around. The snow was good, but we do need a lot more. The cabin is a really pleasant place to stay if the group size is small - we had six people and that was perfect. Thanks to Mary and Gerald for inviting us to be guests!

2010: Finally A New Look

I'd made a resolution in '09 that I was going to improve the look of my blog and this a.m. I finally got around to doing it - well, with a little help from Dave it got done! I took lots of pictures of clotheslines in NZ so I hope to change the picture periodically. The title line shows our laundry in Upper Hutt, NZ, just north of Wellington. It seemed important to start with a picture of personal laundry! I don't like the white space beside the picture and we think we know how to change it. But after fiddling with this thing for about an hour, I was ready to quit and type something. Thank you, Dave, for your help with photoshop. There are some advantages to having you lie around with a hamstring injury. I'd love some comments about the new look and you can do that here or send me an email. It feels a bit like getting a good haircut - or perhaps a new clothesline and pins!