Canadiana

I arrived in Calgary on a crisp and dry February evening. Warm weather had melted the snow and then gone away - it was chilly compared to anywhere I'd been lately.

The winter olympics were on as I was welcomed by the warm hospitality of friends (Matt & Alisa). I awoke to an empty house the next day and found Matt's note. SNOW!, it said. I looked outside and saw a neighbor brushing half a foot of snow off of his car. The snow was still streaming down and I was glad that we planned to snowboard the next day.

The next day, lunch was the main event. Canada vs. Russia - Men's hockey quarterfinal game. We met Rob amongst the downtown crowd at a posh-ish grill with a lot of TVs. They were all featuring the wide white olympic ice surface with the red on white flashes of Russia vs. Canada. My eyes darted from TV to TV and down to the menu. Anticipation charged the restaurant as meals and pints were ordered from waitresses clad in evening-wear. Supportive calls went out towards the TVs for the players thousands of miles away.

The anticipated roar of the lunch crowd sadly never came. The russians struck first and managed to keep themselves out of danger. The Canadian team fruitlessly cycled the puck and misfired on shots. They couldn't find the net and as a result, it turned out to be a quick exit for the defending olympic champions this year.

Later that night, I joined Rob and his dog, Jiboo for a walk in the neighborhood. It was bitersweet to see two teenage boys skating on a thin patch of ice, shooting a puck at an empty net. We walked up the hill, through the fresh snow and saw another pair of guys sliding down the hill. They were using baking pans as toboggans and having a helluva time. We stopped to watch one run and had a laugh as one of the boys slid into a tree. "That one sucked!" he asserted as he grabbed the baking pan and ran up the hill for another round.

Returning to the olympics on TV, the pro hockey players were long forgotten. New Canadian stars were emerging daily - Cindy Klassen with her 5 medals, the mens curling team and Clara Hughes who donated her savings account to a sports-focused children's charity. There was an inspiring story about a Norwegian cross-country ski coach who handed a pole to the Canadian who was leading the relay, but broke a pole. The Canadians won silver, while the Norwegians were fourth. The coach's words were that it was "the right thing to do"

I did get into the snow myself, snowboarding with Matt in powder at Sunshine and again high above Vancouver at Grouse mountain with my brother-in-law Paul. We were riding in the rain, but we had a lot of fun flying down the hill that's only 15 minutes from Paul & Kara's house.

To continue the winter theme, I watched Paul play hockey and bundled up for walks outside. I spent time with my aunt Sheila, my parents, my sister and my beautiful niece, Emma. She's 6 months old now and loves her jolly jumper. The picture below says a lot, and here are the rest: Calgary & Vancouver Feb 2006