The Last Chapter

We promised a final entry looking back and, watching coverage of the opening ceremonies for the Paralympics, it seemed time to keep that promise. We can well believe that Vancouver is turning out more enthusiastically for the Paralympics than any city before. It would be like getting a shot at another dose of the most benign euphoric drug ever made. We'd go back in a flash if we could.

The spirit was, after all, like no other we have ever known. And that is no comment on our experience; everyone we met said the same. Nor was it just for enthusiasts born to cheer like us. Vancouverite after Vancouverite told us how they had been skeptical and thought they should just leave town for the Olympics. But the flame came and they felt it spark up and burn inside them, often much to their surprise. Claire told us of a couple she knew who had actually bought a vacation in Hawaii for February and were regretting it.

There is, it turns out, in every person, a desire for something as simple and pure as the drive to test limits, often facing real risk and dangers. The athletes try and fail and succeed and overcome and fail to overcome in Olympic sport as we try and fail and overcome and fail to overcome in the travails of our lives everyday. In their courage and grace we find again in ourselves the desire, so eroded by the wear and tear, to be courageous and graceful ourselves. The chances to be so are there everyday, if we will only see them as such.

Looking back, we don't know that we did enough to describe the feeling in Vancouver on the day of the men's hockey gold medal match. NO ONE wanted to watch at home alone or with just a few people. Everyone wanted to be with a crowd, preferably downtown and preferably where beer could be purchased. There was a pervasive fear felt by people that the game would start and they would be left out on the street with nowhere to watch and no one to watch with. It was a bit like the city was being evacuated, but instead of rushing onto planes and buses and trains, we were rushing into bars and pavilions, seeking to escape only the risk of toxic exclusion from the greatest communal moment of a generation.

Another thing worth a few more words is the sheer beauty of sport when seen live. We don't know why television can't capture it, but it can't. The grace of the speed skater's leaning caress of the ice, the pause in movement and almost in time, as a snowboarder pauses in the air launched from the side of the half-pipe, the contrast of the fluidity in the air and solidity of a good landing by an aerialist: these things are not just athletic; they are beautiful.

Finally, we would like to thank all of you who have followed this blog. More followed than we expected. We are pleased and flattered and grateful to discover that people have felt closer to Vancouver 2010 because of it. Your comments and support have been special to us. Thank you and goodbye.