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Saturday, January 30, 2010

January 29 2010

Posted by Melanie at 10:59 2 comments

It was getting dark, piles of dirty snow lined the roads and there were puddles in the gutters. I noticed an empty parking spot in a strip mall, so I drove in. There were people standing on the sidewalk. Down the road I saw the blue flash of a cop car. I waited for the traffic light to change, crossed the street and stood next to a tall guy, with a little girl sitting on his shoulder. A group of seven year olds showed up with their attendant parents, just as a red truck stopped in front of us. People jumped out, their arms full of red plastic flags, advertising 2010 Olympics, Vancouver BC, icoke.com. I took the flag handed to me. Right after that came the Bank Of Montreal van, blaring music, we waved our flags and cheered. A handy dart stopped right in front of me. A young man wearing a white, Olympic logo emblazoned suit and carrying a slim white plastic stick, climbed out. The kids surrounded him, their eyes like fluorescent, Christmas tree lights, all talking at once, they got their hands autographed and their photos taken with him. He said his name was Brian. He got chosen to be a torch barer, after he wrote a letter to the committee extolling his virtues as a science student. He said he had represented Canada in some world wide science fair. His brother appeared holding a camera. Then came his mother, smiling and holding a red Olympic banner. She posed with him for more photos. Meanwhile, we all stood on tiptoe, and leaned out into the street, wanting to be first to see the torch. A guy riding a bicycle roared up and stopped in front of us, he approached Brian. He took a key on a string, he wore around his neck, and used it to turn something on the torch to see if it was working. Apparently it is filled with propane. Wearing a grin that could span the Strait of Georgia, Brian stood out in the middle of the road holding his torch high. The kids yelled and screamed and we all waved our flags, as the preceding torch barer ran up to Brian. He tilted his torch towards Brian’s so it lit his. Brian ran off down the road with kids trailing behind him. The guy on the bike went over to the preceding torch barer and turned off his torch. I noticed it was a little black and soot covered from the flames. I turned around and followed the police cars, back towards my car.

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2Comments:

It was amazing, eh? :)

By Anonymous Carolyn I  

I'm glad you got to see it!

By Blogger Heather   Comments