The Paris Olympic Games 2024

“Regardless of where you live, please visit and share this website: VOTE.GOV”.

Today is the opening of the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.  From now through August 11 we can experience the world’s finest athletes.

Merci to my friend, Christine, in Paris, for this gift. I believe Christine is volunteering at the Olympic Games. Here is the source of the gift.

I basically walk every day at the local indoor soccer field – 4 1/2 rounds to a mile.  (I generally do 11 rounds.)  Thursday morning I passed Jack, one of my fellow walkers, who is 90,  and we jawed a bit, as acquaintances do.  For Jack, the walking is apparently essential to save his legs – doctors order: move those legs or lose them.

Truth be told, that for each of us at that walking place each day, just showing up and finishing our self-imposed goal, is winning.  Sometimes it’s boring; sometimes, you just don’t feel up to it…you know the drill.  But, as habits go, there could be worse. For me, the usual these days is a 19 minute mile; four years ago it was 17.  There are colleagues much swifter, and others much slower.  No matter.

Some of the walkers are running; others go about ten yards and have to rest.  On and on.  The perimeter of that soccer field is our ‘track’.  From 7-10 a.m. there’s a little community in that space: a small flock of us after 7 a.m; another coming about 8 and so on.  Varying ages.  Mostly in the senior category.

This time of year there are assorted other activities going on.

Thursday, there also was a gaggle of toddlers with their parents – probably two or three year olds,  ‘practicing’ soccer.  Discipline is not their strong suit.  The instructor was working at enticing them to play along for maybe ten minutes, then they could have ten minutes to run around.  A tyke wanted to go home; a couple of others were headed somewhere, randomly; another was closely inspecting one of the marker cones in their corner of the field.   Of course, at their age, kindergarteners are mature!

Towards the other end of the field were a bunch of kids who appeared to be middle school age doing some kind of. conditioning for something or other.  They mostly seemed task oriented.

Outside were some youngsters coming in with huge duffel bags – the ice hockey neophytes.

None of those youngsters could relate to we old-timers; all of we old-timers have some vague memories of what it was like to be a little kid!  The beat goes on.

And of course we cannot forget those, old and young, too,  who cannot even walk for assorted reasons.

As I was finishing my walk this morning, about 8 a.m., the background music came across the Public Address.  It’s one of my all-time favorite songs, and indeed I had been thinking of calling it up before my walk today.

Here it is.  Take the time to listen and make it part of your day, today and every day.

POSTNOTE: As I prepare to click ‘publish’ on this comes the news about the disruptions in France preceding the opening of the games later today.  This is a story just developing, so I will not get into any of the argument.

There have been three additional posts this week: Yesterday (July 23); Joe’s Speech (July 24); Learning from an anniversary (July 25).

I will be offline Saturday through July 30.  My next commentary on politics will follow the Democratic Convention later in August.

4 p.m. CDT Sunday, August 11, 2024: Just watched the closing ceremony in Paris.  It has been a spectacular games.  Hope that it can be replicated in our national and international conversations going forward.  Congratulation, France and Paris!

A look back: a couple of snapshots by my brother-in-law Mike Lund in 1972, at the Munich Olympics and at the Eiffel Tower in Paris.  Mike died in 2006.  Here is video of lighting the Olympic Flame at Munich in 1972.

Munich Olympics 1972 (photo Mike Lund)

Eiffel Tower Paris 1972 (Mike Lund)

Paris July 26, 2024 (screen shot opening of summer Olympics)