And now, the end is near...

I was tail-gated by someone driving a Smart car today. I do not usually feel intimidated by tail-gaters (although a Ford f-350 following about 5cm from my back window can make me a tad nervous, primarily for safety reasons), and am considerably less intimidated if the person behind happens to be driving a Smart-car. What would happen? If I stopped suddenly I have visions of it rebounding off my bumper and being tossed into the air like a beach ball, spiraling upwards in an arc and then bouncing to a stop some distance away. It seems weird to drive aggressively in a Smart car...only in Vancouver. And speaking of "only in Vancouver". As well today I saw a woman strenuously biking while pulling her (two) young children along in a bike-trailer...and holding a dog on a leash that was running along beside her. For heaven's sake! Are we that short of time?? Taking the kids out, getting exercise, AND walking the dog. And, I might add, it was raining! You can exercise 5 times a week here and still feel like a lazy slob. But we love Vancouver for all its quirkiness.

So the Olympics are coming to a close. Mark is going with a friend tonight to see the speed-skating final...sniff sniff...I was supposed to go with him. Unfortunately, we had a babysitting mishap (i.e., we couldn't get one). However, I think I've seen my fair share of events and so I don't mind too much. And now Kyle owes me a beer... It's always nice when someone owes you a beer.

I took the kids downtown to see the Olympic cauldron (that isn't actually a cauldron) yesterday. I didn't want to wait in line for 45 minutes to go to the only unobstructed view, so we looked at it from the fence. I didn't get many pictures. I had to have my wits about me. There were crowds of people and River has the ability to teleport. That is the only way I can explain the fact that he can get from one place to another in the time that it takes me to blink. Bronwyn was completely underwhelmed...as usual. I did a bit of a spiel on how the flame never goes out and comes all the way from Greece...etc, etc. Meh....she was more interested in getting a donut. But at least I took her to see it. One less thing to blame me for when she's older and asks why we didn't do "Olympic stuff".

Mark and I also went downtown the other night and we took a couple of pictures. The cauldron looks dazzling at night.

And here is Mark in front of it...

Oh Canada....(one of the installations from the Festival of Lights on Granville street)

The city has definitely come alive and it has been great to see the events and feel all the party atmosphere. And of course, the Canadian athletes have excelled. But I'll be glad for the city to get back to normal. I have really enjoyed the art installations and am planning to do a trip to check them out.

Festival of lights...