For a while now I've wanted a place to write down memories... random flashbacks to the years past. Here is a start...
Canada Fitness AwardsMay 5, 2007
Back during my elementary school years at Victoria Public School, I remember participating in something called
Canada Fitness. We practiced a variety things, such as pushups, standing long jump, and races of various lengths. What made this fun was that there were sought after badges of achievement you could earn: Bronze, Silver, Gold, and then the "Award of Excellence".
During gym class one day, we did our pushup test. We were in groups of about three, and I remember watching a girl in our class crank out a continuous set of 120 pushups before we figured "Ok, that's about 4 times as many as you need for the highest achievement, so you might as well stop!" Amazing!
Mr. BallApril 25, 2007
A few summers ago the Bigham cousins went on a fun summer trip to Ottawa. We visited Fred and Larraine at their cottage, and one afternoon I discovered such a fun thing: You stand at the start of a dock with a hockey ball, use a strong underhand motion to send the
ball flying upwards 30 feet in a parabolic trajectory, and then sprint down the dock, trying to time everything so that you have to make a giant leap off the end just in time to sprawl out and catch the ball. It is remarkably difficult because the throw has to be bang on, your speed has to be just right, and even then, the ball is falling at quite a clip by the time it gets back down to the water and is quite tricky to catch. But when it all works out it is a very cool feeling!
A little bit of carbon won't hurt the boy!April 13, 2007
When I was 10 I had the opportunity of staying with my grandpa and grandma Bigham for a week or two while my parents vacationed in Florida. I remember that my dear grandmother would always have the kitchen tidy and the breakfast table set before bed. The next morning, we would all gather at the little round table, often covered with a colourful table cloth, for breakfast. Grandma's jams were a delight. Her tart, sweet, raspberry freezer jam was my favorite.
One morning grandpa wasn't paying attention and did a fine job burning the toast. He pulled out these nicely blackened slices from the toaster to grandma's dismay. She gave him a disapproving remark to which he replied "A little bit of carbon won't hurt the boy"! Oh how I laugh remembering that! I found it strangely sweet when grandma would get after grandpa.
