Saturday morning, Lloyd and I met with his airport buddies for an early breakfast, followed by a quick visit to Heather and Kim in Kitchener, then off to Newmarket for the Annual Regional Ability / Masters' Championships at the Magna Centre. Skaters were there from as far away as Thunder Bay, hosted by the Newmarket Speedskating Club. James is a member of the Cambridge club.
I am the first to admit I know nothing about speedskating and how it's scored, and Patti did try to explain a little. It isn't just who's fastest. There are several heats and your points are totaled at the end.
We arrived a little after lunch time to learn that he had come in second in the first heat of the Bantam boys. After each heat, you wait a long time till he skates again, so it was quality time with the kids, because lets face it, who wants to watch a bunch of kids (and adults) you don't know! I was surprised at the ages of some of those skaters. There were men and women on the ice who I'm sure were older than me. It's not the thought of getting on the ice, although that's scary enough, it's the idea of squeezing into one of those skin tight outfits and actually going out in public!
We were there for the second heat and it was very close, but he came in second again. Then another wait for a long time till the third and final heat. This one was a longer distance and my gosh it was exciting. He was back in about 3rd spot till near the end, then he made his move, and overtook second place, then first. He's a fast little skater, and if he can get into the lead, he's hard to catch. Sure enough, that's what he did. Well, let me tell you, there was a lot of screaming and cheering from our section of the stands. It was just too exciting to watch him cross that finish line first.
At that point he was done for the day, so Patti and Greg and the kids headed off to the Holiday Inn, and Lloyd and I met our friends Judi and Gail for dinner. A lovely time was had by all, with promises to meet next on the island.
Sunday I was flying home so was not able to attend the skating again, although I wish I'd been there. He had one more race, a much longer one, and he was a bit nervous about it. He came in third but the points he already had were enough to win him the gold medal in his age class. I called Patti on my
way home from the airport on Sunday night and when I asked how the skating went, she said, "Here's James, he can tell you". What a thrill to have him tell me he won a gold medal! If he never wins another thing, it will still be a great memory for him. But I suspect he will be doing this again next year. Patti ordered a CD with photos that were taken during the event so I can't wait to see those. You were not allowed to take flash photos when the skaters were on the ice, so I had to take his picture up in the stands. But he was ever so happy to strike his best skater pose for me.It's so funny to see this tiny, little kid out there on the ice. He's not very tall, and is very skinny. That skin tight suit you see them wearing, is baggy on James. But I suppose he'll grow into it.
I was disappointed to have missed it but I'm glad I was there for the one race that he did finish first.
Now it's Monday morning, and there is fresh snow on the ground. Not a lot, but just enough to make everything white again. But we are supposed to get rain later today, so hopefully that will take care of the new stuff and what's still left of the old snowbanks. I guess it's Mother Nature's way of letting us know is it still just March.
It was around 8:30 when I got home last night, so I haven't picked up the dog yet. I'll do that this afternoon. It felt really empty at the house last night without him there.
Once again Brenda bailed me out. I left the piece of paper with the name and phone number of the kennel in the car at the airport in Charlottetown. Of course the kennel isn't listed by the kennel name in the phone book and I only know the lady's first name is Lisa. I tried everything - internet at the airport, directory assistance, I called another kennel to see if they knew the name, I called Southport Animal Hospital and got the answering service. They said they would take my message but no one would be in till Monday. Then I called Brenda to see if by chance she might know - and of course she had the answer. It seems there's a poster at the store, so she called Thomas at the store, got the number, then she called the kennel for me to say I wouldn't be picking him up till Monday. Again, thank you Brenda. I should have learned by now that my first call should be to her.
Now it's back to work, after a busy but fun filled 3 days away.
No comments:
Post a Comment