a little rain, a little running, and a whole lot of heart

I woohoo’d way way through seeing the Olympic Torch pass by me on Granville Island.

and I got this blurry picture to prove it:

Note to self: don’t ‘woohoo’ while shooting.

But this is exactly what surprised me: this incredible swelling of emotion came up inside of me. I wanted to scream, chant, group hug the people around me, cry and call my mom on my cellphone all at once.

(Last month’s bill and a sense of common decency stopped me).

It’s like how a well sung National Anthem can make even the curmudgeonist of person teary eyed – the chance to get to see the Torch make part of its final leg of its 100+ day  journey across Canada and back in the Olympic City of Vancouver on February 12, 2010 came over me like… like …. well… it was powerful.

So powerful, in fact, that I joined forces with a man standing next to me and as soon as the flame was well passed us we took off like two teenagers skipping school to find a place to stand along the dock to see the torch cross False Creek.

He even stood on a very tall post and got some shots with my camera. (not blurry at all).

It was so nice to share the excitement of the moment with someone.  And I couldn’t see past the crowds for the life of me, either.

I loved the nervous, excited and self-conscious buzz in the air at the docks. It was a much different feel from the earlier crowd where I got the blurry picture. There, people lined either side of the route and screamed their hearts out (a video of it will be coming shortly). But the crowd at the docks was more self-conscious and reflective.  I really really really wanted to start chanting “Go, Canada, Go” and rabble-rouse the crowd into cheering. I felt like all we needed was a tiny spark of ignition. It was like we were all standing at the side of an empty dance floor when our favourite song came on. I think if just one of us would have John Travolta’d to the centre, we would have sashayed right behind him or her.

I had no idea I had this patriotism in me.

But I hope as the Games go on, I’ll have the guts to let it out.

Now I just wonder how the protests are going at the Vancouver Art Gallery. I hope everyone is respectfully heard.