Week 13: Curling, and it has nothing to do with hair

Inspiration comes in many forms. I wanted to do something this week to commemorate the Winter Olympics. When I saw the funky outfits being worn by the Norwegian Curling team, I was inspired that curling would be the sport to honor.

Curling didn’t look that hard. It seemed like bocce ball or shuffleboard on ice, from what I recall from four years ago. I can do that. And with the help of that Google thing, I found out that Curl San Diego was just starting some beginner classes this very same weekend -- what luck!

Better yet, my younger son Grant actually wanted to go too, and he brought along a few friends: Jacob, Nick, Jason and Ricky. Jacob’s mom, and my friend Heidi, plus Lacy (would she be considered an adult or a kid?) and I made up our nice rounded number of eight for beginner curling.

The funny thing with Lacy is that when I mentioned curling to her, she said it was a dream of hers to be an Olympic Curler. Huh, really...she did grow up in Oklahoma. Well, it’s always a bonus to help others pursue their own dreams. I just think it’s cool to combine fashion and sport.

Once we get to the Escondido Ice Plex in North San Diego County, we fill out all the necessary waivers, and the group of beginners, about 50 of us, anxiously wait for the lessons to start. While we’re standing around, I notice a curling stone atop a stack of flyers, so I pick it up and wonder “wow, that’s really light!” They reply that the stone is an empty display and the ones we will use are actually 42 pounds. What! 42 pounds are you kidding me? I guess we never actually pick it up, we slide it along. For some reason, I don’t remember all the details from the previous Olympics. Why was I thinking curling would be something like bowling where you pick it up and aim it down the lane? Are there bumper guards for beginners? No. Hmm. I should have watched that intro video on the Curl San Diego website.