Throw Those Curtains wide, One Day Like This a Year'd See Me Right!

I was one of the people who had serious reservations about us hosting the Olympics in London. A real live doubting Thomas! Why? Well for a kick off, I'm not a sports enthusiast, I suffer football, Formula 1 racing, golf & even the snooker on telly & not gladly. I vividly remember 6th July 2005, the day the announcement was made and after the joy of the announcement, the following day we were all brought down to earth with a bump when those bombs went off in London. Since then like a lot of people I feared London would be a target for the terrorists during the Olympics. They had to bring in high velocity missiles on the roof tops of tower blocks and bring in troops for added security. In addition to that we are having such economic problems I felt it was hard to justify all that spending.

I have to admit I was wrong. The way they carried the torch across the whole of the country & involved so many people was inspiring. However the past two weeks have surpassed that & been absolutely brilliant, the athletes, visitors, volunteers, performers, music, the venues especially the Olympic Stadium, the BBC's TV coverage and commentators, even the weather have all been fantastic. For the first time in donkeys years GB has done well at the Olympics. We are such a little country with a cool climate, insufficient investment in sport and a problematic economy. But these Games have really lifted the country in a way that's hard to describe. As Sebastian Coe said, "We did it right" but I have to say we all held our breath for quite a while. Not sure how long the euphoria will last given the government we have, but I'm not going down that road!

There have been such amazing stories some joyful others very sad and the images will live on in my mind for years to come. The dancing horses at the dressage, Mo Farah, winning the 10,000 & 5,000 meters, Usain Bolt winning the 100 & 200 metres, the amazing Michael Phelps winning all those gold medals, Jessica Ennis getting the gold in the heptathlon after her injuries stopped her in Bejiing, Andy Murray finally getting the gold and trouncing Roger Federer a month after being so desperately about losing at Wimbledon, I do like Roger Federer though he was a very gracious loser. Then there was young, Tom Daley the diver getting his bronze in the diving after a tragic time losing his Dad, David Rudisha the quiet unassuming Kenyan winning the 800 meters (nice change after the brash Bolt), the list is endless. The tears of joy & faces of the rowers and cyclists in the velodrome and those of sadness brought the tears to my eyes so many times. 

One really great thing was that the volunteers or Games Makers as they were called, really did a magnificent job and they were thanked so graciously by Seb Coe & Jacques Rogge at the closing ceremony. I have to say I've never enjoyed an Olympics like this before and I did enjoy Sydney Games a lot.

The past couple of days have been boring and I really don't know how I'll face Saturday nights again after the excitement of the past two Saturdays with Mo & Jess! We're back to ordinary telly now and it's dire. I suppose they just can't match the real life drama we've had for the past two weeks. 

I'm also missing seeing the BBC's advert for the Games and hearing that wonderful music every morning as we switched on the telly. They commissioned Elbow to do it again. Wonder how much it cost! They always seem to get such fantastic music for their Olympic Games & the World Cup coverage. Inspired!

 

But the strange thing is I woke up this morning at about 7 o'clock with different music running through my brain. Now I'm not an early morning person but I just couldn't get back to sleep. The tune & lyrics "So throw those curtains wide, one day like this a year'd see me right" just kept repeating themselves. I didn't know what it was & it was driving me mad so I looked it up. Guess what? It was another Elbow song which they sang at the closing ceremony. Apparently it was the BBC's theme music for the 2008 Bejiing Games. Must be why it sounded familiar. I hadn't heard of the group but I know I'm going to have to buy their CD and I'll probably be waking up every morning to it ringing in my ears.
Anyway here's a touch of Bejiing 2008 déjà vu with Elbow & the BBC Concert Orchestra:

One Day Like This



So apart from listening to these clips, to counteract my withdrawal symptoms I'm finishing off a Rapunzel dress for my granddaughter for our visit to Orlando next week and a jacket I started to knit a couple of months ago. I might even get around to some of the housework I haven't done and oh yes, there's always the Paralympics which start in two weeks time! 

We'll miss some of them while we're on holiday but hopefully we'll catch some telly in the USA and in the last few days when we get back. No doubt there'll be more tears being shed again. I do love the Paralympics. I also can't wait to see that Olympic flame again it was gorgeous. It's a shame they're going to dismantle it after the Paralympics and give the copper petals to each of the 204 participating countries. No idea what the heck they'll do with them. I thought it would be a gorgeous piece of artwork to remember the 2012 Olympics.

Take a look at this:

Three little charmers and a gold post box!      Source: Wiki Commons

It's in Penzance and it's the first Royal Mail Post Box to be painted gold to honour Helen Glover who grew up in the town and won a gold medal in the rowing.  Apparently the Royal Mail are going to do that with all the towns that the gold medal winning athletes live in or grew up in. Nice touch! 

Isn't it nice to be proved wrong, sometimes!

Now bring on those Paralympics! One day like this a year'd see me right!