On being a writer at the 2002 Winter Olympics

08 Saturday Feb 2014

Tags

2002, 2002 Winter Olympics, Olympics, Salt Lake City, sports, the Olympics, travel, Utah, Winter

When I moved to Salt Lake City in 1996 I had one thing in mind: Be part of the 2002 Winter Olympics. Look, I’m not a skier. In fact, I kind of hate winter, but when I watched on TV the Olympics in Albertville, France and then Lillehammer, Norway I fell in love with the Winter Games, even more so than the Summer Games. Perhaps it’s the cozy scenes they show with the snow flakes falling as if choreographed, or the layers of furry clothes everyone is wearing. Might even be the nordic sweaters, because I think they’re kind of cool. Or maybe it’s because I love what I can’t do. It’s rather dreamy to watch people do something you can’t possibly do yourself, like ice dancing swizzles, or zig zagging down a mountain on skis, or sporting a speed skating unitard. Nope, can’t do that one at all.

But I can write. So when a friend told me about a job opening for the Main Operations Center as a writer I couldn’t pass it up. It was a part-time contract position and something I could do just during the few weeks of the Olympics. That meant I still had my day job, which required leaving the office around 4:00, catching the light rail to the Olympics Headquarters and working a night shift. (Two shifts were actually all-night shifts.)

Skier, I am not. Writer, yes.

But I wasn’t going to limit myself to just working behind the scenes. I already had purchased tickets a year in advance, so I needed to squeeze in being a spectator as well as meet up with out-of-town friends. It’s no surprise that I got very little sleep for the two weeks I was working.

Like any writer, I kept a journal during my two weeks and as the Sochi Olympics are just getting started, I’ve been going down memory lane. Here are excerpts from my experience:

February 10, 2002

I’m really enjoying my gig with Olympic Radio. I’m working in what’s called the MOC (Main Operations Center) in the headquarters downtown and it is definitely the nerve center of everything that’s going on. Of course, you know I’m eating that up, as I like to know EVERYthing that’s going on and always want to be one of the first to know.

Also eating up all the Krispy Kreme donuts they keep bringing in for us. Someone please put a stop to that. Please

Warming up with friends on Main Street in Park City at the 2002 Olympics.

February 10, 2002

Oh, my favorite thing to do is to talk to people who are visiting. This is very exciting for a lot of people. They’ve been saving their money a long time to come and visit. For some reason, wearing the uniform makes me more gregarious and makes me want to talk to our guests. I truly feel like I’m a hostess and this is my dinner party and I want to make sure everyone has a great time.

Look at me! I’m doing the Skeleton! Not really. Right outside the Main Operations Center was a business that photoshops your face on an athlete. So yes, now I’m a winter sports athlete. Ha!

February 12

Okay, the hot thing in town is the USA Team’s blue beret. I have been on a mad search for it and people are cleaning it off the shelves. Went to the SLOS (Salt Lake Olympic Square) Superstore on my lunch today and the berets were nowhere to be found. Then I found the store, Roots (the Canadian manufacturer of the USA Team uniforms), and there was a run on them there too. They said they can’t keep them on their shelves.

Not yet giving up.

Look! We got our berets!

February 14

I finished my first all-night shift. Not too bad. I came home from work yesterday and took a 2-hr. nap. Was hoping it would end up longer, but that didn’t happen. But I felt refreshed nonetheless. I then went to work at the MOC at 11pm and finished 5 a.m. this morning. I then went straight to the gym and made the 6 a.m. yoga class after about 10 mins. on the treadmill. Now I’m ready to eat a little breakfast and then go to bed. I have the day off.

February 25

It’s odd that it’s all over now. I mean, I’ve been waiting for the Olympics to happen before I even moved here. I think SLC really surprised itself that it could be pulled off. And I think people on the outside were really surprised too. Hopefully a lot of people’s misconceptions have been corrected. I’ve heard nothing but positive things about the party we put on. Sure there were judging scandals, and countries getting their feelings hurt, and people having medals yanked for doping, but I think we can all feel a little relieved that the guests enjoyed themselves in SLC.

So I proved that I can still write with only 3 hours of sleep a night. Would I do it again? Even with the lack of sleep? Yes, without hesitation. I may not be athletic but I can spit out words for spectators like no one’s business. And hey, maybe I will have another chance at it, as I believe Salt Lake is bidding again.

I’m all ready for the 2014 games with my new Team USA hat. Go team!

A last day at Antelope Island

31 Monday Dec 2012

Posted by Ms. Boice in Home

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

American Kestrel, Antelope Island, bird watching, birding, birds, Chuckar, nature, photography, Porcupine, Utah, Wildlife, Winter

It’s the last day of 2012. There have been a lot of wrap up posts floating around and I kept thinking how I would wrap up this year. A year of pictures, showing one per month? A list of things I learned? A list of all the fantastic things I did? Others have written eloquent posts going down memory lane. Me? I kept drafting one and then I felt like I was creating something akin to the ol’ Christmas Letter.

Today Steve and I visited Antelope Island. It’s the last day of the year and the last full day we have together before he heads back to Calgary tomorrow. For me, it’s the perfect wrap up of my year.

Antelope Island in Winter

It was perfectly white. Perfectly peaceful and perfectly sums up how I feel about this year: A balance of harshness and beauty. Challenges and triumphs. But mostly, it’s where Steve and I go to escape the world and spend quality time together.

View the gallery by clicking on any one of the photos below. They look yummier that way.

: Surprised this American Kestrel we saw on the causeway allowed us to get this close.

: One of the many buffalo lays atop a blanket of snow.

: Antelope Island in Winter

: View of Promontory Point in the distance

: Mixed flock of Red-winged black birds, Yellow-headed blackbirds, Brewer’s Blackbirds and Brown-headed Cowbirds.

: A covey of Chuckars (there were about 12 in the group)

: There’s something sweet about this photo.

: We spot a coyote in the distance. He spots us too.

: At Garr Ranch on the island, Steve spots this sub species of the Red-tailed Hawk. It’s either Harlan’s Hawk or a Krider’s Hawk, we think. Uncommon for this area.

: Also found at Garr Ranch is this Virginia Rail, which is quite unusual this time of year. Garr Ranch has warm springs that don’t freeze over, which is probably part of the attraction.

: We spot two porcupines in a tree on our way back to the causeway. Neither seem bothered by the fact that Steve is practically in their faces taking their photos.

: Yes, the porcupine looks cuddly, but don’t kid yourself.

: A covey of California Quail at Garr Ranch on Antelope Island.

: After a morning of snowfall the sun makes an appearance.

Winter Holiday at the Grand Canyon

27 Thursday Dec 2012

Posted by Ms. Boice in Rendezvous Journal, Trips

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

Arizona, Bonneville Salt Flats, Grand Canyon, holiday, Hoover Dam, National Parks, nature, outdoors, photography, snow, travel, vacation, Winter

Grand Canyon Rendezvous

I didn’t expect snow at the Grand Canyon. All I could remember from my first visit 30 years prior was the scorching Arizona heat of 103° F, and add about 10 degrees to that and you get what the temperature was in our non air conditioned family van. My brother, sister and I were passing ice cubes to each other—ice we grabbed from our Coleman water chest—and rubbing it on our faces and necks as my baby sister was bawling because she found the heat unbearable too. It was so damn hot. That’s what I remember from my first trip to the Grand Canyon.

But this time was different. It was my first Christmas with my boyfriend, Steve, who was visiting from Toronto. After our courtship blossomed in Scotland, then grew in England, Steve and I found ourselves in a long-distance romance that was taking us to the Grand Canyon in the winter.

We took our time driving the 500-mile journey from Salt Lake City, stopping in Las Vegas for a night and exploring sites like Utah’s Bonneville Salt Flats and Hoover Dam along the way.

We pass the Bonneville Salt Flats of Utah

The Bonneville Salt Flats of Utah (or what I like to refer to as the Devil’s Ice Skating Rink)

It’s a different road trip when it’s not over 100° F. There was no crying baby sister, no suffering in a van with my brother and sisters. Just a quiet ride with a fella I met nine months earlier. This time I could really pay attention to the landscape. And it helps when you’re traveling with a geologist. I learned more from Steve than I ever did in my college geology course. (Even more helpful is an instructor makes you swoon.)

Hoover Dam on the border of Nevada and Arizona

As we approachedt the Grand Canyon it was dark and snowy and I couldn’t see a thing. I hate driving in the snow and so I pulled over and had Steve drive into the park.

Snow in Arizona. I couldn’t quite make sense of that. Arizona is supposed to be freaking hot, not wintry.

We stayed in the park at the Yavapai Lodge, which had painted cinder blocks for walls. resembling a college dormitory and a toilet that ran all night. The accommodations weren’t lush, but they were practical and we got a good night’s sleep. After a full hot breakfast in the cafeteria we made our way to the rim of the canyon. Tourists filled the pathways near the edge, just like they did when I was nine, except people were in parkas, scarves and wool caps, not t-shirts and shorts.

Snow was falling and my fingers could barely stand the icy chill as I snapped photos with my little Kodak camera. This is not the same Grand Canyon I saw when I was nine.

I looked over the edge to look down in the canyon–the Grand Canyon–to see that it wasn’t the hot, scorching beast I remembered, but it looked like a grand dessert with layer upon layer of oranges and browns and golds with a dusting of powdered sugar on top. A geological Mille-feuille.

A Grand Canyon Mille-feuille

I’m not a fan of winter or snow, which I know is weird because I live in Utah where most people really like the stuff. But to see snow blanketed over the Grand Canyon is a spectacular treat, which most people never get to see. So, you think you’ve seen the Grand Canyon? Sure, maybe you’ve seen it in summer when it’s blowing its hot breath at you, but try seeing it dressed with snow. It’s a much kinder and sweeter Grand Canyon. It will blow you a snowflake kiss.