Games Canadians Play...
Most people tend to associate Hockey with Canadians, but another popular sport up here is Curling. Curling is like playing a giant game of Shuffleboard, but you play it on a sheet of ice, throwing heavy "rocks" down the ice and briskly sweeping a broom in front of the rock to make it move faster or slower, and to some degree where you want it to go. The sport was actually invented in Scotland in 1541, but is now mostly a Canadian sport, having been brought here by Scottish immigrants. While the sport is very popular throughout Canada, it appears that Saskatchewan is where the sport is the strongest, and it's actually the "official sport" of the province. So yeah, when you think of Canada, and Saskatchewan, think of a bunch of crazy farmers hurling big granite rocks down a sheet of ice and chasing alongside the rocks with brooms. It gets cold up here in the winter, this is what we do for fun. %)
I tried Curling when I was the Kidling's age, mostly because some of my friends were doing it, and my Mom and Dad were championship curlers. Alas, I found that the sport was not really to my liking, and I quit shortly afterwards. The Kidling, on the other hand, is in his second season of playing the sport and is loving it! Today was the local Junior Bonspiel, and the Kidling's team came in First Place! His team won first place last year too in fact, but last year he played as a "spare" whereas this year he was an active member of the team!
Next weekend is the 4-H Bonspiel, and later on there's a bunch of the actual Provincial Championships (for the adults). This is the first time in a long time that Shaunavon is hosting these events, and the biggest problem is finding enough housing for all the participants! The oil industry has pretty much filled up most of the available motel/hotel spaces, and people are being asked to billet the curlers if they can. (These things are planned a couple of years in advance, and no one knew that the oil industry was going to take off here the way it has!)
It's great to see the Kidling enjoying a sport, and even better to see him excel at it. Now, if I could just get him to be as enthusiastic about his school work and keeping his room clean! :)