Blogger - Aggie Rothon
It was four years ago that the Olympics first became ‘real’ to me. Before that they had passed me by as another sporting event happening a long way away. But in 2008 I was made to sit still and watch. The reason for this was that on a sunny August morning that year my son Robin arrived. A tiny, pink, curled up being, swathed in a too-big babygro, he clung to my front from day one and refused to be put down anywhere else. So, we watched a lot of the Olympics together. Though I’m not sure either of us could tell you much about it - Robin for obvious reasons and me because of the fug that a general melee of sleeplessness, hormones and wonderment of a new baby can bring. Still, those early days has meant that I do hold the Olympics in my mind with a certain fondness and attachment to personal memories.
Everyone likes or dislikes the Olympics for different reasons. I’m not one to be rushing off to London or painting my face with the five rings, but apart from my memories I am also interested in the games for the sheer brilliance of the athletes. I’m in complete admiration of the potential bound up in their every fibre. Muscles honed over the years to become absolutely expert in achieving the athlete’s ultimate goal; to be the fastest, most dexterous, most accurate.
It’s the same feeling I get watching nature. I hold the same admiration for the peregrines of Norwich Cathedral as I do Usain Bolt. Everything about a peregrine is geared towards one thing; to be the fastest. The peregrine may not gain a gold medal having performed one of its headlong plummets through the sky but it does gain a tasty meal and perhaps to a peregrine gold medals and today’s dinner are one and the same thing.
One of the most dexterous birds are the swallows that wheel and whoop over the surface of the meadow behind my house. They are catching the tiny flies that ping hither and thither over the wet warmth of the grass below, singing and soaring and snatching all at the same time. Then there is the beauty of a long tailed tits nest so accurately and delicately weaved together, all done to give their chicks the best chance in life. In fact if you learn to watch and listen you will notice that there are Olympians out there in nature all the time for evolution has honed many a bug, bird or beast to become experts in their own field.
Featured in EDP, Saturday 14 July (Incidently, Aggie's 30th Birthday!) - HAPPY BIRTHDAY AGGIE!