...and then there was the Olympic Train!

Since I am using this blog as the journal I never wrote, I must talk about the Olympic Train with the torch which passed through our little valley in 1996 on the way to the Atlanta Summer Olympics. (I know that this will be talked about in the life sketch some day when I croak, so here is MY side of what happened that day.)


I had purchased a nice video camera for Wayne the previous November on his 50th birthday and was excited to use it to record this special event for my family, who were all too busy to see it in person. The train was coming through our valley in the late afternoon, as I recall, so I went over to the hill by Twin Lakes and joined lots of community members to witness this noteworthy event. Well, the train was taking forever to come by us so I decided to sit down and wait. Wayne has always said "Never stand when you can sit!" When the "lookout" saw the train finally approaching I stood up and, I guess, accidentally turned on the camera while doing so. Hence, when the train arrived and I turned on the camera to capture the event for posterity, I really turned it off.


Now, when I looked through the viewfinder all I could see was a black and white setting and the train in the picture, but that was okay because it would be in beautiful living color when we put the tape on to play on our television set. So, I never saw the Olympic Train and torch in color. What sacrifices we mom's don't make for our families!


Upon arriving home I was anxious to show this video to my family. Well, all that was on the tape was the ground as I was standing up. When the train actually arrived the videotaping ceased because I turned the camera off when I thought I was turning it on. My sweet family will never let me live that down! I am reminded often about mom's "Olympic Train" video.


So, if it makes my family feel any better, I didn't see the Olympic Train or torch either!