Spring Will Arrive Someday (I think)
Well, at least now we know where some of the snow went that was ordered for the Vancouver Winter Olympics! And we here in western Missouri (to say nothing of all the folks farther east and north) are really, really ready for spring.
In the meantime I proudly demonstrate my dual-nationality status to my neighbors. The sweater is an authentic pattern and style of native people along the British Columbia coast. (It was knitted by my mother back in the late ’70s when I lived in Vancouver. Mom had something of a flair for designing and knitting “decorative” sweaters, this one being the only one I actually wear in public. After tackling this sweater she swore she would never, ever do anything like it again–and she didn’t.)
The mittens are a very recent gift from my good friend Rod Downing in Vancouver (okay, I don’t actually wear them to shovel snow and spread salt–they’re much too good for that–but I’d like to think I’m the only one in town with a pair of official Vancouver Olympic mittens).
And the ball cap: the Royals’ spring training opened last week in Arizona, which I’ll take as a sure sign that spring is indeed on its way, even if the sun doesn’t actually come out tomorrow.
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February 26th, 2010 at 11:13 am
Glad you’re enjoying the mittens. Since I’m never one to miss a chance to comment on peace & justice issues, let me say that the mittens are the only thing I would buy, as they aren’t outrageously priced like most things Olympic, and their proceeds go to support the athletes.
While I am pro-Olympic athlete, I am against the unaccountable, super mega-industry that has become the Olympics. Living in Vancouver, I have watched close-up the debate as it unfolded into reality. No time to break it all out and for sure legitimate points on each side, though to give you an idea: something that is sheer overhead & 15-20% of the budget – security in a post-9/11 world – will cost up to 1 billion (yes, a ‘b’) dollars.
And, Olympics aside, to stir the pot a little more for your readers, there were peaceful protests during the games (I wasn’t able to join them), which your readers may have seen. If they did, it would most likely be the one where – good TV images – it included some people smashing glass and overturning some news boxes, etc. I mention them as I immediately recognized them as the vestigial remnant of the “Black Block” (there were many peaceful protests; they were only at the one protest).
Now I mention them so your readers can ponder what exactly does “non-violence” mean? Black Block feel they are non-violent – for them, violence is something done to a person; what they do is very selective property damage against giant multi-nationals (and one must keep them distinct from provacateurs and just plain mayhem-seekers). For sure, they and I plot different paths to bring about change. But did want to raise up that even translating our nice, cushy words into reality may not be quite so straightforward in the big unruly world.
February 26th, 2010 at 2:45 pm
Rod: I’m sure this will come as no surprise to you, but I recall seeing only the “selectively violent-nonviolent” protests on TV and in the national press here in the States. Of course, the U.S. media has its own form of attention deficit syndrome: easily distracted by the noisiest element.