For the last two days, I’ve been sucked into the world of Olympians, even though I promised myself I wouldn’t. It’s been so much fun to watch our USA teams and individuals do their best on the ice and snow. Closing my ears to all the Chinese propaganda, at the heart of it all, our fellow citizens are representing us.
This morning, I found that one of the skiers lives and trains in the Sierra’s near here. How fun to cheer her on. It reminds me of my experience at the ski lodge last week. I wonder if she ever skied the small local ski resort that I visited. I’m sure she’ll get a heroes welcome when she comes back home.
During the opening ceremony, I was reminded that it isn’t the 1900’s anymore. I remember the Olympic Opening Ceremonies of old, when the team would do their best to behave in a respectable manner. Tight little waves. Smiles. Walking together in a group. Shy. Ready to compete. The days have certainly changed, with nothing off the table. Chants. Tongues out to the camera. Hand gestures of one kind or another. Some jackets open, some closed. Different behavior for different times, it seems respect is shown in different ways these days, or just forgotten all together.
The technology on the field was mind boggling. I want to look up more information about how they did the things they did. It was certainly impressive to watch on television, although a bit sappy at times.
The lack of an audience during the events has left the cameras to capture all kinds of weird sounds. During the woman’s hockey game, one of our women athletes was badly injured. Her cries were clearly audible as her team watched the medics remove her from the rink. The music for the skaters wasn’t balanced well in an auditorium that was empty except for the team members. So sad that all the work done in preparation for a worldwide event was ruined by the virus. Rather fitting that it happened while showcasing the country responsible for this nightmare.
I’ll do better.
Team USA.
Team USA.
Team USA.
Watching the downhill racers, I was astonished at the angle of the slopes they tackled. I was also amazed that it doesn’t appear that China has all that much snow. At least not during competitions that I was watching. It’s the same here on the Eastern side of the Sierra Nevada’s. La Nina is at work, keeping the storms away. I hope it snows at least once more before Spring arrives on Sunday, March 20.
Which brings me to the temperatures here in the high desert of Northwestern Nevada. Two days ago, Oliver’s outside water bowl was frozen solid. 3″ of ice. I tossed the ice onto the cement where it broke into two 8″ chunks. The ice never even began to melt for the entire day. By evening, all the shards of ice and the two big pieces were just as they were at 7 AM. It’s still that way this morning. I could sweep up the entire mess and never see a drop of water. It actually looks like glass laying there.
Yesterday, it was time to check my Spa for pH, Chlorine, and foam. With all the Olympic excitement, I haven’t been out to soak since Monday. To my dismay, the temperature of the spa was at 81 degrees. Normally, it’s at 104, dropping to 102 when in use during the winter temperatures. No. No. No. Not this, too. The spa can’t go south on me.
I’m not sure why the temperature dropped so low, except that it might have been because of what happened the other night. With feet freezing on the cement, I raced inside and forgot to close the cover. It’s true. Everything seemed okay when I discovered it the next day. Sad, but true.
Fiddling with this and that, I got the temperature reset and hoped for the best. By 9 PM last night, it was 100 degrees. Let’s just hope it’s bubbly hot this morning. A broken spa is more serious than a kitchen drawer on any day of the week, and repairs would require a specialist.
Although it’s really cold here, the sun shines all day long. The skies are the bluest with no clouds to speak of. The roads are all dry so there’s no problem with ice. Actually, we’ve had the perfect winter, if you don’t like snow. I’ll keep hoping we get a few more storms.
I truly wish I could skate, ski, snowboard, or in any other way slide down a mountain of snow. Even more fun would be skiing, snowboarding, and periodically shooting. The only way that I can see that happening is perhaps cuddled up in a really cool sleigh pulled by big strong horses or perhaps a dog sled ride. Even a snow mobile excursion, as long as I didn’t need to drive the thing. Yes, all those things would be so much fun and doable for this Senior Citizen. Skiing, skating, and snowboarding are only for my dreams.
Today is a day for Crock Pot Stew, as I haven’t made any for decades. When the propaganda from NBC or the Chinese gets too thick, I’ll turn off the TV sound and turn up some music. Saturday is a great day to eradicate dust bunnies, which seem to multiply like crazy here at Winterpast.
Whatever you do, have a wonderful day. Remember that Valentine’s Day is just around the corner. Plan something wonderful to celebrate the day with people you love.
More tomorrow.