A Pleasant Surprise/Canadian Flag Bearer

First off, a wonderful new experience for me last week. I had gone to a local guy (GT) to get the radiator in our truck fixed. Just get it flushed out so that it would run more smoothly. We were chatting it up for a while about this and that. He got the radiator set up for flushing, but he had to leave it be for about an hour to run. He asked if I was getting picked up (this is about thirty minutes out in the county), and I said no, that I would take a walk down the road or down by the river. He decided to come down with me to the river. Within a minute, we were on the shores of the gorgeous Boyer river. GT had his kayaks on the shore and had asked if I wanted to go for a paddle, or whatever it is with kayaking. I’ve never gone before, had been wanting to try, and was eager to go. So I took him up on his offer. My oh my, what an amazing adventure. The river was calm, forest all around and enough wildlife to keep me intrigued. We went for about 25 minutes upstream, then 20 down. I’m already looking forward to the next time I get to go out. I had done my canoeing instruction courses and was planning on investing in a canoe, but now I’m more leaning towards the kayak’s ease.  There are tons of rivers up here to explore as well. All this because I went to go get the truck fixed. Best experience I’ve had with mechanics! Forget about southern hospitality, it’s all about northern hospitality!

The Canadian Olympic Committee recently announced the flag bearer for Canada at the London Olympics. Triathlete Simon Whitfield will be carrying the Maple Leaf during the Olympic ceremonies. Simon was the gold medallist in Sydney, Australia in the first ever Olympic triathalon. Whitfield was also the silver medallist at the Beijing Olympics in China. He is definitely deserving of being the flag bearer for Canada, a position usually held for an individual of high Olympic importance in Canada or a probable medal winner. Could others have been the flag bearer? Most definitely. My choice, and maybe I am biased because of my girlfriend E, but I would have picked Ian Miller, a horseback rider competing in the equestrian event. This is his 10^th, yes TENTH Olympics. A feat not many can say they've done. Ian was the rider of the famous Big Ben back in the 80s/90s. Maybe he wasn't named flag bearer because many look down on equestrian events as athletics, thinking that it is not really a sport; that the horse does all the work. I know personally that it does require skills, both physical and mental. They may be different traits than what we typically think of when we think of athletics, but it is most certainly a sport. Clara Hughes is a big name in Canada, having one medals in both winter and summer Olympics (Speed Skating/Cycling). Christine Sinclair is the face of Canadian soccer right now. The Canadians had a disappointing World Cup, but the last year Canada has rebounded very well. She would be a great candidate for flag bearer. Other individuals who you could make an argument for being flag bearer, shot putter Dylan Armstrong, diver Alex Despatie, canoer Adam van Koeverden, cyclist Ryder Hesjedal, the men's eight rowing team are amazing, tennis playere Milos Raonic or Daniel Nestor. I know I'm probably missing many other possible candidates.

Who would you pick for Canadian flag bearer?