Thinking Spring and Skating

By the end of February I can only think about Spring. Is it here yet? Before kids we'd head out to someplace warm. Now, with their school break not coming until April....which is almost summer compared to this...we don't usually travel too far from home. So I have to do what I can to put a little spring in my house. The "Watch 'em Grow" pot is one of the spring things that I am enjoying. And tulips on my kitchen table. Pink and white and springy. Sigh.

Olympic women's figure skating....it's my favorite event to watch in the Winter Olympics. It was on late this time! But it was so worth the wait. Kim Yu-na was fantastic. Perfect. So deserving of the gold medal. Mao Asada from Japan, the silver medal winner was a wonderful skater, but there was something about her program that scared me, she looked angry, the music seemed angry, the red and black costume sort of harsh....and her scowl on the podium seemed to indicate that silver wasn't the color she was after. Then the amazingly brave performance by Canadian Joannie Rochette, winning a bronze days after losing her mom. I don't know how she had the strength to go on. Maybe having something so important to focus on helped her get through some of it. My heart went out to her, I was crying right along with the announcers....an emotional performance to say the least.

I have to admit, when the American Mirai Nagasu skated at the end, I wanted her to really well, but not well enough to bump the Canadian from 3rd place. A medal can't replace her mom, but having something that she can hold on to, in honor of her mom, will help while she is healing.

The Olympics....so much more about the athletes themselves than about the sports that they play. It's hard to see it coming to an end!