Everyday Canvas

Olympics 2016

Prompt: The Olympics began August 5th. Did you watch the pageantry and the presentation of the athletes? What did you think? Which country caught your attention the most? What sport do you enjoy most? Which do you like better the Summer or the Winter events?

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Summer of winter Olympics both have their good and bad points, and I liked them both, as long as I don't see someone get hurt.

As to 2016 Olympics in Brazil, I watched the presentation on and off because my husband was watching, and he is always gung-ho about it, having been a long-distance runner in dinosaur time. The TV reception, however, was awful. Thank you, Comcast or NBC, once more, for rotten viewing! The reception kept getting frozen and we couldn’t even change the channel. Come to think of it, they should let at least three or all TV companies to give the Olympics. If this was frustrating for me, just imagine what it did to my husband.

The presentation was all right. What impresses me more is not the artistry but the human endeavor of each athlete. So all those light shows and stuff probably interested graphic artists and programmers more than they did people like me.

Watching the entrance of the athletes last night, I guess all countries were fine, but I liked that they had a special non-country refugee athletes group. It was a good idea to find a niche for the displaced athletes.

As to sports and me, not anymore. My favorite sport now is walking as prescribed by the doctor. I was, however, much more active in my younger years. In school, I played volleyball and was a forward in the basketball team. Then, in my later years, I played tennis in the club and was constantly in a bowling league. I liked sports when it was friendly and not when played with the us-against-them idea. I have always liked doing my best in everything and I am always racing with myself, not others. For that reason, bowling was probably my favorite, but leave it to people to turn anything to a battle or war idea.

Then, when it came to my kids’ games, I umpired little league and was an assistant soccer coach. Now, while most of the parents were wonderful people, some went nuts over little boys’ games. After a baseball game for seven-year-olds when I was the home plate umpire, once, I thought a parent would beat me up, blow up my car, or burn my house or something, and the boy I had called out after three strikes was my own son. I saw it first-hand then that people can get stark raving crazy over dumb games, at times.

Right now, my husband is watching the swimming eliminations. Since I am always in the same room with him, I take a peek every now and then. He, however, swims together with every athlete, all excited and energized. I think I’ll bake a banana cake to soothe his nerves just as soon as I post this entry.