Vancouver 2010 Olympics

End of the Olympics Much Like the Day after Prom

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As a writer, (and as a Canadian!) I have to apologize for the exclamation mark abuse in my last blog post, but hey – it was the Olympics and I was feeling the excitement in superlatives.

I had so much fun even though it was a very compressed time. We spent a lot of time in the streets, which were pulsing and throbbing at all hours with red and white, some time in pubs and pavillions and a long stretch in the Molson Canadian Hockey House, where thanks to a very good friend, we were set up in the ultimate VIP luxury. Strangers and friends all melding. All in all, despite having booked too late to actually get official tickets, we thoroughly loved and experienced the Olympics.

Monday, though, the day after the Olympics, wandering through the downtown area, killing time before heading to the airport a recommended four hours early, it was quite a different story.
It was like the day after prom: Everyone was wandering around in a daze, disheveled, wearing last night’s finery, in some form, as they began to tear down the many weathered decorations bemoaning the fact that it had all gone by so fast. Still, despite the Olympic hangovers most of them were nursing, everyone agreed, we had all gotten lucky. Yup, it was the prom all over. Just longer-lasting, and we didn’t have to wear those cruel shoes that pinched and chaffed.

The Years, The Days, This Weekend

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I’ve just finished another major milestone of the school year – this term’s reports. And not to ride on my sister’s coattails – since I actually turned her on to the book – but really relating to her post today, quoting Gretchen Rubin (of The Happiness Project) who’s major ah-ha moment was ‘the days are long but the years are short.’

I think every year it feels a bit more like that, but as my own mortality smacks me in the face a little harder these days, it makes sense to think along those lines and do what feels right as a result. Whether that means being nicer, working smarter, making time for people I love and like, or just doing the creative and genuine things that mean most to me, I need to consider my time and space.

This weekend I’m going to the Olympics in Vancouver! It was a very last minute decision, based more on a ‘why waste this nearly once-in-a-lifetime opportunity’ than the kind of naysaying that says ‘it’s too hard and too expensive to go so far for just a quick weekend.’ Instead, we decided that it was worth the time, effort, and money, and we would just go for it. After all, we might be in our seventies by the time the Olympics come back to Canada! We’ve gotta go!

P.S. I’m knitting red mittens for my twin – who in her blog – www.nonewfortara.blogspot.com has recounted her red Olympic mitten tribulations. They aren’t official Olympic merch, but they’re made of a rich pashmina red yarn, and she already loves them, in their half complete state. And, there’s no way they can be quite as mismatched as my original freakshow pair. Go Canada!