We're Going Ape for the Olympics

Le Monkee shows his support for the Olympic city

It's all about the Olympics these days in Buttercupland, including Le Monkee's Olympic themed attire. Le Monkee will watch just about anything, but Buttercup is more inclined to the skiing and speed skating. 

Contrary to a rumor floating around Blogville, Buttercupland will not be preparing a team for the 2014 Olympics. Le Monkee can dress the part, but we are not winter athletes. My own winter sports experiences are extremely limited. I have gone downhill skiing once in 1965. That's right, once. On this one day, I stood at the top of a miniature hill, in perhaps the only ski slope in CT, and looked down thinking, "I don't like speed and I don't like heights, and I don't like cold." With that thought I somehow made it down the hill, took off my skis and then and there abandoned my Olympics career. I had spent the morning falling in snow and having a miserable time.  It is not a decision about which I have any regret.  

The only exception I made to this resolution was in 1999. I accompanied my friends Pat and Judy to the Canadian Rockies for a week of cross country skiing. Pat, with whom I've also traveled to Spain, Israel and Jordan, is a great friend to travel with. She convinced me that cross country is easier than downhill and that I would love it. Love overstates my reaction, but I did have a great time during the week. We were just a few miles from the site where the cross country competitions took place at the Calgary Olympics, and the area was beautiful. I skied four times, with my greatest success skiing halfway around Lake Louise. I even took a dog sled ride -- never have been so cold in my life -- and had a great afternoon in the spa at the Banff Springs Hotel. It was a terrific vacation, but I once again realized I am not Olympics material.

What are your favorite Olympics events? Do you go ape for the Olympics, too?