Sunday August 24th

People keep asking me if I'm over the trip yet. That's a big question. If it means am I over the time lag, well it's three oclock in the morning and I'm typing. If it means am I back on a normal daily routine, yes depending on how you define normal. If it means am I over going to China, for the Olympics, where my son was competing, and he did well, brace yourself for a shocking answer, no.
It's been a week since I last wrote anything and the same stuff is still happening. We still have Five Ring Fever although it is different now. Marsha is still MOO. We still don't hear any news from Benn, but our Secret Source still keeps up updated periodically. I guess, in a way, all of that is normal. In fact it's sort of mundane if having a globetrotting kid who sometimes reports in and sometimes doesn't can ever get mundane.
That is what surprises me about people continuing to ask when I'm going to post another blog. In fact a few have suggested that I should continue a blog just about stuff in general even beyond this Olympic experience we've had. Well I'm thinking about it. In the mean time this Olympic thing is almost done.
Benn comes home Monday night, tomorrow. No I don't know what he will do next. No I can't say whether or not he will keep paddling for another Olympics. No I don't know if he will go back to school or get a job. No I don't know how long he will stay home. No I don't know if he will stay in the Atlanta area or go back to Charlotte or even somewhere else. No I don't know if he will keep painting his nails.
I know what's happened over the past 19 years and the past 19 weeks and the past 19 days. I know that all of those periods were, as MOO says, action packed. I know I plan to try and keep up for another 19 years. I know that I will work hard on the "I" words between us; influence at times, intensity now and then, integrity in our relationship, and involvement always always always. I know he got the nail polish form MOO. I know that a certain Senior Vice President at Delta Air Lines used a marker to color his nails black (for a few minutes) when I returned to work. I know that Benn and I weren't the only ones who had fun with all of this. And last I know that I am finally getting sleepy again. Wonder what time it is now.
Tom

Sunday August 17

My post Olympic POO-ness has started to set in. That statement has nothing to do with returning to a diet more normal to me. It has to do with a variety of things that have happened in the very few waking hours since I returned home.
We returned to great friends who insisted that they spend some time with us before we crashed; in fact before we even went home. We were then escorted to our house to find a welcome home banner that covers half the front of the house. It is outrageously large but so well done and so cool that even if the neighbors don't like it we have to leave it till Benn comes home. Along with the banner they hung an American flag on the top porch. Also adorning the front lawn are five rings that we probably won't have to worry about leaving. They are painted and will likely fade slowly.
We've been hearing that lots of people we know were into the event. Lots of people stayed up or woke up early or tried to. McIntosh High School hung a banner on the front of the school that is even larger than the one on our house. It seems like lots of our friends and family had a lot of fun with this Olympic thing that Benn just did for us all. That I think is how Benn will like thinking of it. I've already admitted to not understanding all of his thoughts and actions, but this one I think I can call. When he comes out of the security of the village and the outrageousness of the Olympics in general; when he gets home, and he sees that it wasn't all about Michael Phelps; when he sees that Benn's friends and family enjoyed Benn and the excitement of his performance, that will undoubtedly make him smile.
A little while earlier I watched the video of the C1 semifinal and final runs recorded on nbcolympics.com. I loved watching it all again, in fact I saw some things I couldn't see from where I sat among the fruit salad of nations. I saw for the first time that Benn dropped his upstream edge in the semifinal run in the hole near the top of the course. That was why he struggled in that section. I also didn't know till today that he lost his T-grip briefly during one run. It was cool to be able to finally see those details.
There was something else cool about that video. You know how they always have a color commentator who has been a high level competitor in the sport? Well that guy was Joe Jacobi. Joe is not just a Gold Medalist. He is a very good friend. I think just about everybody in the sport would in fact count Joe as a friend. He's a great guy and that made the video even better. Joe if you read this, you did a great job; technical comments and personal comments both.
Back to work in the morning. Somebody wake me up now and then.
Tom

Saturday Aug 16

While Benn and Davis and I enjoyed some track and field Marsha and Addie saw Venus and Serena play a doubles match. Addie said she saw tennis on Jupitor. Where does she get her sense of humor?
There is, as always, a little more to that story. Having become more savvy in a weeks time, we chose to use the bus and subway system to get to the Olympic Green. It's pretty much like New York except with characters; number 60 bus to the Pearl Market, number 10 train to the one that starts with a fishing lure, change to number 5 and go to the tassled pitch fork one, change to number eight and expect the Olympic Green stop to be clearly marked. On the way home reverse that but accidently exit the subway as far as possible from the bus stop, watch the last number 60 drive away in the distance and walk back to the hotel from the Pearl Market. Good plan.It worked out just that way.
Davis had the added bonus of helping carry a lady in a wheelchair down a long flight of stairs in the subway. Why? If you were a lady in a wheel chair sitting at the tope of a long imposing flight of stairs surrounded by 140 pound helpful chinese guys, and Davis walked by, what would you do? She yelled in Chinese, "Hey BOO! Grab these handles!" Those might not have been her exact words but Davis understood.
I offerred an Olympic Canoe and Kayak pin to a little Chinese girl who turned out to be a little Chinese girl from San Jose, Cal. Her mother turned out to speak English much like a Chinese woman from San Jose. I'm not saying we needed her help to change trains at fishing lure but I should say it was an Olympic pin well given.
When we finally met Benn at the Green he told us his George Bush story. It's merely coincidence that I've mentioned GW in two consecutive blogs. He is honestly not an insider like Cathy, Nathan, Scotty P, or the Laurens. And unless there is some national secret unknown to me, he is not MOO. He is the president of the US though and used that loop hole to visit with Olympians. If you know Benn it will come as no surprise that when the photo of W and the Canoe Kayak Team was taken Benn "somehow" was front and center. As the President started moving into position Benn put an arm around his W-ness, pulled him in close and said something like jump right in here big guy. Sotty P, being of like mind, sharing Benn's non-republican political views, and siezing the opportunity for a moment of great irony, put an arm around from the other side. I can't wait to see the actual photo with bleached and black haired Scotty and black nailed Benn providing the V and X for George's W. I am typimg this with my thumbs at 30 some thousand feet. The Frakers are on our way home from the Olympics, our biggest adventure so far. So far.

Friday August 15

The same weather that stranded us in the bunker at the top of the Great Wall mountain caused the C2 and Women's race to be postponed till today.  

I got up early this morning and spent a few minutes alone walking through the park next door to our hotel.  I couldn't help but take the time to browse my personal thoughts about what has happened in our lives and especially Benn's.  I also wondered what happens next for him.  I'm not going to share all of that with you.  I've gotten personal in this blog, but there is a limit.

Instead I will tell you about the walk from a level closer to the surface.  The infinitely curious Chinese people continue to watch me as if they are trying to decide which American I am.  I can feel it going around in their heads.  Is he George Bush, Brad Pitt or Peyton Manning?  Of course that is pretty funny since, to an American, I don't look anything like George Bush.

As I entered the park there was a group of 30 or so older people exercising to music.  They each looked like Jackie Gleason trying to do Jackie Chan in slow motion.  It became more dangerous as I went further.  The Jackies were wielding swords and spears.  I wondered if I had strolled into the wrong section of the park.  After a while though I found a group that was only holding fans and though noisier than the swords they seemed safer.  Next to the fan group was another group in unison doing what appeared to be the yoga position where you stick you left foot in your right hip pocket.   It sort of all seemed fairly non-threatening and I did survive to go eat some more rice for breakfast.

After having purchased nothing more than a pair of shoes, a wallet and a shirt, Davis has somehow developed the reputation of being the Doc Holiday of the local Pearl Market.  Mimi, to the true blogophile that would be GOO (Grandmother), has hired him out for the morning to go with her on a shopping spree.  MOO went along as well.  And although having earned full rights as MOO, in the Pearl Market Moo has been instructed to be quiet and stand back out of the bargain master's way.

When they return we will take the number 60 bus to the subway and figure out how to take the subway to the Olympic Green for a meeting with Benn.  After some kick back time, although not much, MOO and SOO (She prefers STOO but we don't get it) will go to a tennis match.  Davis and Benn and I will hang out and later go to Track and Field.  We will come back to the hotel very late, get up very early in the morning and head for the airport.  This will most likely be my last Beijing blog.  I do plan to keep writing it some although now it is really more for me than anybody else.  The drama is done except for the part where we struggle to get back into day to day life.  Hope it's been fun.  Now I'm wondering if I should change the name to benn2chinaandback or benn2normalcy or something along those lines.  This part might actually be more of an adjustment for me.  I have already admitted that I anticipated that one day Benn would go to the Olympics.  I never anticipated what it might be like to be FOO, DOO or POO after the Olympics.

Tom

Thursday August 14

Benn spent the day at the course today hoping to support Heather in her semifinal run and maybe beyond.  Rick and Casey didn't advance to the semifinal.  After the C2 semifinal it started to rain.  And when I say rain I don't mean the kind of rain that just gets you wet, that would be fine.  They would race.  I mean the hammer of Thor and the bolts from Zues and so much rain you could barely see anything.  The rest of the race was postponed till tomorrow I think.  That might hurt our plans to spend the day with Benn, but I hope not.  I think we deserve a day with him.

The rain didn't catch us at the course.  We took the day as our only chance to go to the great wall.  We got to the top, hiked along the wall for a while, and discovered Rocky is a universal language.  We were hiking roughly along with a group of French when a guy in a Mexico shirt ran up a few step on the wall, threw up both hands and we all understood one word, "Rocky."  It doesn't sound so funny now.  

Addie said for me to write that she hiked a lot further than Davis.

We also discovered that shivering is a universal language.  The rain hit just as we stood in line to sled/luge/whatever it's called back down the mountain.  We waited an hour in an international huddle inside the terminal housing of the chair lift.  When the skydal wave turned to just a deluge we were encouraged.  When it finally subsided to just rain we hiked back down.

You won't guess what we did then; McDonalds.  After four and a half days of deep fried chicken bones, rice, unrecognized vegetables, rice, hunan pepper after hunan pepper, steamed bread things, and rice, guess how many double cheese burgers Davis can eat; five, along with fries and a large coke.    

Davis and Marsha went shopping again.  They think they have mastered the poker face at the bargaining stall; especially Davis.  Addie and I returned to the hotel on the number 60 bus.  I know I mentioned already that the Chinese people are amazingly nice, but I have to say it again.  I have never been anywhere that people just want to smile and say hello and go out of there way for you as a rule rather than an exception.  Everybody loves Addie.  Everybody thinks Davis is worth a notice, but it's hard to tell what they are thinking about the huge young man.  We left them sitting on a curb for five minutes once and returned to find people lined up to have their picture made with the large dude and the cute little girl as if they were movie stars, not kidding.  Cross your fingers that we can arrange a day with Benn tomorrow.

Tom 

The day after

Wednesday August 13

Today the adrenaline fairy went away and the tired fairy dropped his dust on us.  It might not have been fairy dust.  It might have just been a heavy smog day.  It's hard to tell here.  We tried to soldier on.  With the race behind us and no event tickets till Friday we had two days built into the schedule to do China stuff.

We did sleep a little later than we have been.  We also hung around the hotel long enough for me to read some emails and some blog comments.  It amazes me that I am hearing from so many people.  Two people from my college days addressed me by my old nickname.  If you don't know it there is no reason to mention it here.  I'm hearing from former students of my teaching days as well.  I'm hearing from family members like my cousin who noticed Benn painted his nails black for the race.  Don didn't even ask why Benn painted them, not that I know anyway.  I didn't even understand myself when I was 19.  Benn is a much deeper thinker than I was so I have no chance of keeping up with him.  I try and love trying, and he understands when I fail.  Don claimed though that he painted his own nails black as a show of solidarity for Benn for the race.  Then he had to figure out how to get it off before work in the morning.  I think he might have been kidding.  Where do you find black nail polish at midnight?  

I'm also inspired by how many people told me in emails that they stayed up to watch the race live.  I apologize for not answering those emails individually at this point.  There just isn't time.  Please take this blog as a personal note to each of you.

Benn spent the night with us at the hotel after the race.  Marsha talked to him very late.  They both also talked to Lauren.  I suspect Benn talked to her longer than Marsha.  We didn't get to keep him long.  He had to go back to the course to support the C2 and Women's Kayak who were competing for the US today.

We saw the Forbidden City today.  We also looked at Tianenmen Square.  I probably didn't spell that right, but it really only matters if I knew the characters anyway.  I saw a phrase today spelled with a doglike character with no tail and a headless three legged man.  I think I saw the same sign in New York.  it said, "curb your dog."  Here though there don't seem to be many dogs to curb.  What might that mean? 

By the time we got through the maze of the Forbidden City we were all exhausted.  We went to The Bank of America Hometown Hopefuls place.  It was very relaxing.  We even got massages.  The food and drink is nice there too.  Thanks again Bank of America.

What was my biggest accomplishment the day after my kid competed in the Olympics?  Marsha and I went in search of feminine hygiene products.  We first stopped in the Auspcious Health Drug Store.  They only carried drugs, well at least that's how it seemed, but we couldn't read any labels or understand the lady.  Marsha showed her an example of what we sought.  She pointed across the street and down and said, "Yang," or something like that.  Of course everything sounds like either that or, "Err."  It turned out that we needed to go to the Jiang Mart.  It was three floors of household abundance, from food to clothes.  Without even being able to read labels I, a distinctly male type person of the nonfemale persuasion, found the only four boxes of the sought product in the vastness of the Jiang Mart.  I did it tired and I did it handicapped by both language and gender.  Sixth place in the Olympics doesn't sound so special now does it?  

The day

Tuesday August 12

So did you hear about that kid?  You know the kid.  His dog taught him to walk.  His first word was "outside" (sort of).  It was actually more like sigh, but it meant outside.  Now do you know who I'm talking about?  He was the kid who never did any high school sports but committed all his time to athletics.  

Did you hear what he did today?  He started the day in the Olympic semifinal in Water Canoe Slalom. there were twelve boats.   He finished 6th.  That's not on the surface as remarkable as medaling.  But let me tell you the story.  He made a mistake near the top of the course.  It wasn't a big mistake, but it was enough.  He wasn't perfect and expected to be out.  Only the top eight moved on to the final.  As we continued to watch one by one other guys made bigger mistakes until finally 4 of them were out, the most shocking of which was Tony who had won the gold at the previous two Olympics.  Benn advanced to the final in 8th position.   He advanced only because after his mistake he continued to hustle and salvaged the rest of the run.  On his second run he almost crushed the same move where he had errored previously, but this time he missed the other way.  Rather than quit he pushed harder.  He flipped one gate later, but rolled the boat back upright quickly and continued again.  The rest of his run was very good and well worth the continued effort.  Again we watched as the course took it's toll on others.  Simply because in Cathy's words, "He manned up." Benn moved up to sixth place,  It wasn't what he would have wished for.  

It might have been nearly as good.  It was a solid performance, a demonstration of character and mental training.  And guess what else.  It was sixth place in the freakin' Olympics for crying outloud.  HOW COOL IS THAT?

As Benn walked the course with Cathy between the semifinal and the final he looked up to the stands where he knew Davis and I were sitting.  Marsha wasn't sitting with us.  She was in a special section for Mom's who were so nervous as to be nearly drooling on themselves.  Addie was there to take care of her.  Benn saw that I was watching him walk and study the course.  Even though the distance was probably 100 yards, oh wait it was China, 100 meters, we made eye contact.  He stuck his hand up for a wave.  I waved back.  I thought to myself, "Benn if that moment was as emotional for you as it was for me, then put your doggone hand down and focus on the course.  We can get choked up later."  

I have always been impressed by Scotty P and by his Lauren.  That's not the same Lauren of previous mention who is Benn's Lauren.  Roommates on trips, teammates, skinny jean wearing hair dying, think somewhat alike Slalom racers seem to have Laurens in common among other things.  At any rate when I thought I could be no more impressed with Scotty P he showed up to today's race, just one day after a heart breaking day of his own, wearing a quickly made shirt that said, "I am onboard the Frake Train."  I didn't get to see it but I understand that Lauren wore, "Frake takes my cake."   

I have teased Marsha a lot through all this, and I fully intend to continue.  I have to say truthfully though that the difference between us is that I, though just as taken by this whole experience, hide it better.  Well that and I wasn't a deer in the headlights in the Pearl Market this morning, but that's another story about trying to bargain without a safety net and having to be rescued by the bargaining lfeguard.   

Tom

Monday August 11

I hope this works.  Taran set it up for me and all the instructions on the blogspot are in chinese, so if I figured it our it was completely by accident.  Thanks Taran.  

Now on to the important stuff.  Benn lives to race another day.  He did not have his best day ever, but it was good enough.  In C1 the top 12 advanced to the semifinal.  Benn was 10th.  Tomorrow he will need to do better.  I don't mean to downplay a top 12 Olympic finish.  What I mean is that to advance to the final he will have to finish in the top 8 in the semifinal run.  It was a very exciting day typical of a day of tough competition in that our moment of celebration included some disappointing results for others.  Our good friends Jamie, Pablo, and Scotty P did not advance.  All had heart breaking results as Jamie and Pablo in their respective classes were the top finishers to not advance, each by less than a second.  Scotty P looked like the medal contender we believed him to be, crushing his first run.   In the process of laying down an equally fast second run he received a 50 second penalty on the last upstream gate.  i know many of you don't get that, but it's bad.  It was a close call.  I couldn't even tell in the replay.  My friend Mary was briefly inconsolable.  She is MOO, in fact two times now.  It was fully her right to have a few moments of disappointment.  

We got to spend some time with Benn after the race.  He had to go get ready to race again, so our time was limited.  Tomorrow the adrenaline mounts again.  The field is very strong tomorrow.  I expect the results to carry a narrow margin.  

Stay tuned.

The day was not all about racing though.  We learned that the Chinese are much more experienced and adept at bargaining than we are.  We visited a market this morning.  Marsha and Davis each thought they were up to the task.  Each in turn got taken to the cleaners, we think.  Although it's hard to say for sure.  Then tonight we stayed in the Shunyi Area late to eat and the busses were all gone when we finished.  We had to convince cab drivers to bring us back to Beijing.  We had to agree through a language barrier to pay for the trip and the return.  Tomorrow Davis and Marsha think they are up to the task again.  They plan to do some shopping before the semifinal.  fortunately for me there isn't much time and very little room to carry extra stuff home.  I think they will get fleeced again.  

Davis looks like a giant walking through the market.

Addie learned how to say taxi in Chinese. 

Today's runs do not count anymore.  Tomorrow is a start over but with seeding based on today's results.  Don't know what else to tell you.  It's a race.  Benn can do well, but it's the Olympics, so can the other 11 guys.  Am I a little nervous?  No.  A lot!  But I am looking forward to it very much.  Benn seems calm.  

Sunday August 10 part two

Had to add a quick note.  We got tickets to Artistic Gymnastics from the Hometown heroes place.  We thought it might be the ribbon twirling ball bouncing type gymnastics,  I don't want to downplay anybody's Olympic sport.  Ours is pretty obscure in the US, but we were happy nonetheless to find that it was the gymnastics that Marsha loves to watch.  Scott hamilton must like it too.  He sat a couple of rows in front of us.  You know that guys seems a little older every four years.  Surely that isn't happening to me too.

There were so few people going through security when we went through on our way in that I we had lot's of attention, more than we actually wanted.  Mimi was with us.  She had to take an Ibuprofen to prove they were okay.  She also had to take a picture to prove that was actually a camera.  We finally all got through except for Marsha.  The rest of us stood around chuckling because we couldn't even see her.  She was surrounded by the security volunteers, probably 20 of them.  They were a little freaked out over her Epi Pens.  They wanted her to use one to prove what they were.  She convinced them that wasn't a good idea, but it took some doing.  After they went through everything in both of the bags she was carrying, including making her eat her fudge cookies, they let her go without so much as a strip search.  Pansies.

That was the easy part.  Afterwards we had to try and catch a cab in a heavy rain.  We finally caught one and he refused to take us because he didn't know how to get where i showed him on the map.  Taxi number two was a bit more courageous.  By then were were all soaked and grumpy.  The catch a cab in the storm experience was so harsh that Marsha would probably rather have been subjected to...Okay maybe not really.  But one more minute in the rain and the rest of us were ready to turn her back over to security just to be able to stand inside a tent.

Sunday August 10

Taran, thanks for posting the previous entries that I emailed.  We found an internet cable in the hotel room though, so I'm back on it.

The Chinese people are working very hard to make us feel absolutely welcome and safe here.  There is a guard of some sort on every corner and often in between.  They seem unsure if they should smile.  Most want to but are a little reluctant.  The people out of uniform hold no such reluctance.  They go out of their way to smile and be helpful in every way they can think of.  Thanks to Silvan, the US Slalom Team Head Coach, we are staying in a section that is away from the larger more international hotels.  The area we are in feels more Chinese.  There is a large vegetable market right next door.  The park down the street is visited by many more Chinese than others.  It's a little out of the way.  I find myself having to explain to cab drivers...okay not really, it's more like pointing at the map.   At any rate i have to know where the hotel is so I can point on the map.  Once the cabs see the actual location they can get us close and we have to guide them the last block or two.   Hand motions are more or less universal.  And of course I am an expert after less than 24 hours in China.

I have to admit though that it was nice to go the the Bank Of America Hometown Hopefuls building today and be surrounded by Americans for a brief time.  Bank of America is doing an incredible service for families and friends of US Olympians.  They fed us, gave us a place to escape the humidity, which makes Atlanta feel dry by comparison.  I never thought I would say this but Atlanta has sissy humidity.  They, Band Of America gave us some event tickets.  We went to Boxing and watched the small skinny guys class.  Tonight we have tickets for Artistic Gymnastics.  We got some Track and Field tickets.  We didn't get Davis' favorite stuff, but we get to go in the Bird's nest.  Of course the most important thing is tomorrow when Benn races but we already had those tickets.   Also at the Hometown Hopefuls we found other MOOs

It's getting easier to get around.  We've heard good things about the subway but haven't found it yet.  We've been using taxis.  They are very inexpensive and convenient.  As I said though it does put some pressure on us to know where we're going.

Should I mention food?  So far there has been plenty of it.  Our breakfast is covered at the hotel.  Noodles for breakfast is not what we're used to but it works.  Then the lunch today at Hometown Hopefuls was great.  The red stuff was fish.  The brown stuff was duck.  The pizza was kind of like pizza.  

Interesting note; we had lunch today with Catherine, Lucy and Constance who are here to support the US rowing team.  Catherine knows some of our friends from the Canadian paddling team.  She knows Pierre pretty well.  I wish I could say we learned some really embarrassing stuff about Pierre.  I didn't even ask though.  I've tried to get the upper hand on those Canadian rascals before.  I don't think I could embarrass Pierre no matter what dirt I had.  Funny though that we travelled to China and accidently had lunch with a friend of a friend.  It's not really a small world.  If it were then it would not have taken three hours for my feet to de-swell after that heinously long plane ride, and Marsha would be seeing the same trash cans here that she sees at home.  

Tom

Saturday August 9

We made it to the hotel.  No idea how.  We took a shuttle bus to downtown.  Talked to a group of people whose only English was "hello" and "Sonk you". We pointed to some words that they sounded out since the words weren't written in Chinese. Somehow we got a cab to within a block of the hotel.  The cab driver ask a random guy on the street about shishily.  We are staying at the Sicily Hotel.  Random Guy vaguely pointed and we ended up in the right place.  It's very much an adventure.  We can find a few words that use our alphabet, but even those we can't pronounce.  It makes getting anywhere not so easy.  Even settling on a room was a trick.  We are here though.  Benn and I swapped emails using my blackberry.  Haven't been successful yet with phone or text.

We're all pretty tired.  A few things of note on the way.

Davis slept through a meal.

MOO almost lost camera privileges by photographing trash cans in the Tokyo airport.  That was too touristy for words.  She has been warned.

We saw a Home Depot and a KFC in Beijing.

Our hotel has a beer vending machine.  That doesn't happen in our part of Georgia.
I'm watching The Longest Yard in Chinese with Chinese subtitles, or maybe it's Japenese.  I know it's not French and there aren't enough J's for Slovenian.

Time for bed after 31 hours of nothing but airplane naps.  Tomorrow is another chance to get lost, but we have to get our tickets and figure out how to get to the course so we're ready for the race Monday.
Tom

Friday August 8

On the morning of our departure a huge crowd gathered in our front yard.  Breakfast was catered.  Even though there are no tall buildings somehow ticker tape fell from the sky.  Perhaps the helicopter was the source.  People insisted on carrying our bags down the red carpet to the limo and lined our departure route holding signs to wish us well.

Since it was 6:30AM and I was tired it's possible that I'm exaggerating some of this.  For instance the helicopter may have actually just been the pounding of my headache from rushing and sleeping so little over the past few days.  I'm sure some of it happened that way though since I am typing this on my blackberry as Stuart from Pheonix Star Taxi and Limo talks to Marsha while driving the limo to the airport.  And I hear the US flags flapping just outside my window.  We seem to have lost the secret service runners though when we got on the interstate.

Let's fade out and do some sort of smoke and mirrors transition to Hartsfield ATL gate D14.  We're waiting for a different flight than the one we expected.  It's good that we got to the airport early, way early.  The 10:15 flight we were on was canceled.  Since we got here so early we were put on the 9:05.  As we went through security the TSA guy asked if we were all 4 together.  He said he didn't need to see identification for anybody under 17.  After looking at identification for Marsha and me he paused and gave Davis a funny look.  At 6'2" and nearly 220 pounds without a shave Davis doesn't look 16.  TSA man said, "Maybe I do need to see your identification.  Do you play footbal?".

Davis gets that question a lot.  He always answers honestly and patiently.  I think it's time for him to branch out from that a little.  I don't mean he should lie, just have fun with his answer.  Airport security might not be the right time for that fun, but really there are few times inappropriate for fun.  I suggested he could say, "I wanted to be a cheerleader but they didn't have a skirt in my size." A different approach he thought of was to say something completely unrelated such as, "No but I have two dogs.". We're still working on it and in fact he might try a variety of answers to see what works best.  We have plenty of time during this trip to think it over.  This is just the start of about 24 hours of travel.
Tom

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Thursday Aug 7th

Marsha has been MOO-ed at all day. I've been applauded by large groups twice. I've been called Father Of Olympian, Papa Of Olympian and Dad Of Olympian. I was even gushed over by the woman from Wachovia who was fixing my credit cards to make sure they didn't get shut down when we use them in China. I am touched. No kidding. In fact my eyes are burning a little. We have had so much support, so much help, so many well wishes. I still haven't packed any clothes, but I have packed a lot of emotional (and tangible) support. I leave (MOO too) for China knowing that friends and family really do care and really do want it to be a great experience for us. Just imagine if I had done something more than hang around with a kid who paddles canoes.

I have one last task to complete before I start to focus all my attention on getting ready to start travelling. I have to go to "meet the teacher day." At the moment I don't remember what grade Addie's going into. How do they expect me to fill out all those forms with any validity. I'm brain dead. Addie will probably have to help me. I am already in Olympic mode. She will remember. She will know where I need to go. She will know what goes on each form. She might even fill them out and just let me sign them. Who knows, by now she may be able to forge my signature. It's comforting to know that I will be taken care of from now on.

My father told me to keep a close eye on Addie in China. I assume he meant so I don't get lost. Or maybe he just doesn't know her as well as I thought. I should call him and ask him what grade she's going into.

Unless I am struck with an inspiration later, my next blog entry may be in Chinese, well okay no... just from China. I am out of time for now. We're leaving to go see our kid in the Olympics tomorrow morning. I have been anticipating this and the reality is.... I still don't have the words. It's like... No it's not. It's not like anything I've done. Stick with me I'll try for more later.

Tom

Wednesday Aug 6th

My lovely wife and I are pretty competitive people. I suppose you could have guessed after having heard about our kids. We're even competitive with each other. It's all in fun of course, but we like to win. She in fact is feeling a little competitive about how things have gone lately. It's silly actually, but she feels like I have gotten perhaps more than my share of attention over this Olympics thing. I haven't really. Oh sure I've been interviewed by a newspaper or two or three, and then there is this blog for which I am becoming pretty famous among all three of my loyal readers. She on the other hand has been sitting quietly by, wondering when The Today Show would call her.

People have asked her why Benn mentions me so much, you know the father son bonding thing that has come up in what may have been a national publication, or maybe it's international, but that is completely unimportant. After all what have I done besides hang around with a kid. Even the kid does nothing special by his own admission in one of those newspapers, "I just paddle canoes." I don't go everywhere with him because I'm his favorite. I go with him because I also paddle. In fact I have a special job. I finish last at many of the races around the US so that nobody else has to. If you look at it that way, maybe Benn takes me with him as a service to his friends. I'm really nothing special.

Marsha on the other hand labored long and hard to give birth to a nine pound four ounce baby with a very large head. She did such a marvelous job of raising that big head boy that he became an Olympian. That is a significant achievement for her. How few women on earth achieve the status, "Mother Of Olympian?" I believe she deserves some attention. You can give it to her. When you see her call her "Mother Of Olympian." How much more noteriety than that can you express? In fact lets keep it less formal. She will appreciate it more and she will know what you mean if you just see her and say MOO. Even if you're not really close enough to speak don't let that stop you from giving her the credit she deserves. Shout MOO at her from a distance. It will remind her how speical she is and she deserves to feel special. This small act may in fact even prove to me once and for all whether or not she has a sense of humor. You'll know too if, in my next blog entry I meniton a black eye or divorce papers.

Just a quick note as part of our Olympic experience, I will not point out that 36 hours from departure we have not packed the first sock. Instead I will tell you about our event tickets. We had two that we got through USA Canoe and Kayak, Slalom's national governing body. Then we ordered two more from a website that seemed to be okay. Turned out we got scammed. The tickets never materialized and we were stuck. Amazingly the morning after we discovered that we had been scammed, USACK came up with a way for us to pick up two more tickets when we get to China. The day is saved and we have the USACK staff and Team Manager to thank for it. I'm not sure why they have taken such good care of us. It is one of three possibilities. It might be that Benn just paddles canoes, or perhaps that I save other more prominant USACK members from finishing last at races. I really think it's Marsha though, as I have already pointed out she deserves to be treated specially since she has that status of MOO.

Tom

Monday Aug 4th

Skype is a wonderful thing. Last night Marsha logged onto Skype just in case Benn might be on. It was kind of like fishing except with no bait, sort of. After a while I left the room where we all had been sitting. From two rooms away I suddenly heard everybody yelling at once. Marsha got a bite. Actually Benn logged onto Skype as well. In case you've never heard of Skype it's a web thing. You can create an account and do video calls with somebody else who has an account. Of course you have to have a web camera or video equipped computer. We learned this trick a couple of years ago. It's been great to use while Benn travels. He can use it to call us on our computer or to call from his computer to a cell phone. I'm guessing we don't even use it to it's fullest extent. You could probably send video smoke signals if you knew how.

So anyway picture the four of us after I rushed back into the room, all crowding around one laptop yelling at once trying to talk to Benn. Addie told him about the cupcakes Lauren brought her. Davis and Marsha both talked about how big Davis is getting. I was trying to ask quesitons about what was going on in China. Benn just sort of smiled. I guess he knew we would settle down soon enough. We did and then we could talk more easily. We could see the Olympic Village apartments in the backgorund. His was in the immediate backgorund. The day was cloudy. Benn was busy concentrating on that day off he needed. And we just sat around and talked for a while. It was one of those nothing important to say just all enjoying being together kind of talks.

After a while Skype began to lose the connection now and then. It isn't perfect, but it sure is better than anything we had before. We finally decided to say goodnight after reconnecting three times. We had enjoyed a nice time together anyway, so it wasn't like giving up. Benn looked great. He said he couldn"t see us very well, but take my word for it, we looked great too. If great means all smiles then we were there.

I'm back. Did you realize I was gone? While I was typing my cell phone rang. I got there just in time to see that it was the telltale "unknown." I quickly logged onto Skype and got to talk to Benn again tonight. This time it was just me. Everybody else is either in bed or not home yet. Skype is a wonderful thing.

Sunday Aug 3rd

I have gone to the gym with Davis two days in a row. I can still lift my arms, but that could change tomorrow. It's the season for him where lifting gets tougher, more reps and more sets and even lifts that he hasn't done for a while. I don't do all the lifts or as much weight as he does, but I try at least to look as cool walking around the gym. That, after all, is the most important thing.

I heard news from Benn today. My secret source came by the house. As expected SS had more news than I did. Benn it seems is in need of a day off. He sometimes paddles so long and hard that the petals fall off of the rose of paddling for him. Am I a word magician or what? This is the way Benn works. And I bet lots of other athletes work similarly. He took a day off recently and went exploring with Scotty P. Sounds like it might be time for another break. He'll probably skip a day of training and go do something fun. I have learned to have faith in his ability to figure this kind of stuff out and know when to do a day off now and then. I know because on Team Frake I am numero.... Hmm... What numero am I now? There was a period of several years when I was number two. Hang on, not like that. Behave yourself.

Actually part of the reason that I have so much faith in him is that not only has he gotten pretty good at managing himself, he also has great alies. He has surrounded himself with good friends, Coach, training partner who knows him well, maybe sometimes me, perhaps even SS now who, although an unproven resource, has shown much potential. And then there is Scotty P with whom Benn likes to spend casual time during race build up. No worries about the need for a day off, but I thought it would be interesting to note that the Olympics is not all about excitement and Olympians are not super heroes. A lot of plain old hard work goes into being able to compete at that level. I haven't done it, but I've watched it. I feel safe in saying that now and then anybody would have to turn the release valve.

We ask a lot of our Olympians and generally they deliver. Now that I know one so well it makes me wonder if any of the others ever wore black rubber boots and a red cape to preschool, or cut their hair to stubble bleached what was left and put a black dye hand print on their heads, or wore 14 necklaces at the same time for several weeks in 6th grade, or put their Night Night in the freezer before bedtime to "cold it up." I guess my point is that although it might not be the thing that gets somebody to the Olympics, I think there is a lot of normal humanness even in those that somehow find the level of commitment it takes. You can tell that by watching them all walking around the stadium during opening ceremonies filming like a bunch of tourinsts.

Tom

Saturday July 33rd

Yes I know there might be something wrong with that date, but it's more comforting right now than admitting that its August 2nd. August 2nd feels too close to time for a trip I'm not completely prepared for. It's not the packing or anything logistical, although we still don't have some event tickets I ordered. All that stuff will fall into place or out of place and it won't matter. What I'm not prepared for is a hokey old guy thing. It's this kind of corny stuff that most parents, mine included, talk about now and then. Kids think it's...I can't even remember what kids think about it, but it's not the same as parents think.

It's this. I still remember this excited nervous little boy bobbing along on his first class II whitewater kayaking trip. He was just in front of me, far enough away that he was on his own, close enough that he wasn't really on his own. The nervous excited little boy has turned into a young man. The first class II has turned into first Olympics. The far enough away that he is on his own hasn't changed. It's that last clause (is that a clause? I don't mean like Santa. I mean like that English class stuff). That notion of close enough that he wasn't really on his own, that's gone. He's ready. He's been ready. I'm still working on it.

Benn called me yesterday. I was standing in a large conference room facilitating a meeting involving roughly 30 people. I had finished speaking and we were working together to organize our team for what I knew would be a long and somewhat stressful exercise. My phone vibrated. I always check when he's traveling and sure enough the telltale "unknown" came up on the display. That's almost always him when he travels because he calls from his computer and my phnoe doesn't recognize it. I knew it was him and I wanted to answer, but I was facilitating this meeting. I also knew he would call Marsha and I could get the news later, so I did what I had to do. Yep, you guessed it. I stepped out and let the meeting facilitate itself for a minute. I didn't take the time to say more than "hi." Actually since we're from the south it was "hey" but that's not important.

The big gray stress cloud finally blew over for the day and I was able to leave work around 7:45PM. When I got home Marsha and Lauren were saying goodbye after a short visit. I noticed right away that Lauren's long beautiful hair was gone. She did the thing where you donate your hair to be used for people who need it. In my opinion it was a great thing to do but no real sacrifice since she looks just as great now as she did with long hair, maybe even better. I guess somebody out there will feel a lot better with Lauren's hair. I just hope it goes to the right kind of need. I'd hate to think that Lauren's hair went to replace a combover for some balding middle aged paunchy dude.

Marsha gave me all the news and everything sounded good. I'm posting a new picture. Looks like it's hot in Beijing, but Benn is coping. Thanks to Coach Cathy for sending the picture.

Tom

Thursday July 31st

I heard from Benn today. Okay I didn't really, not from any of the traditional sources at least. There have been no credit card charges since he left the US. I also haven't seen any cash withdrawels. I guess he's not spending any money in O-Town. Since he's not racing there is no reason for me to search for Slovenian websites with races results where everything is spelled with at least one J. Don't get me wrong I think Slovenia is one of the coolest countries on earth. They have staggeringly beautiful scenery, very nice people, cool beaches, great mountains, lots of history some of it very visible from two World Wars. My all time favorite country to visit so far has been Slovenia. If you go there take a camera, good hiking shoes and plenty of curiosity. You don't need to take any J's though. They have plenty.

Back to the subject. I didn't actually hear form Benn. I heard from somebody who heard from Benn. That's not as good as hearing from Benn, but I still remember being 19....I think. I remember being in the vicinity of 19 and in those days I didn't call my parents much. I never emailed them. Oh yeah, we didn't have email. Raise your hand if you remember days before email. Okay both of you can put your hands down now.

I got a text. It was from a secret source. My secret source says Benn is doing great. His training is going well. He is enjoying the Olympic course. And he's generally having fun. That's about it. You really can't fit much in a text. I tried to respond and ask for more information, but by the time I used my left thumb to type, "Thks." My secret source had probably texted 27 more messages to other people who had all responded and mine got lost in the shuffle. I'm told I'm not very quick at texting. I would be better if I were Slovenian. I could just type J. It could mean almost anything.

Oh by the way I posted a couple of new pictures.

Tom

Wednesday July 30th

Somebody asked me how Benn qualified for the Olympics. I started into a fairly lengthy explanation of the three race process and point totals for the three races. I gave some detail on where the races were and the significance of each and how the points could be captured.... Getting bored? Well it seems that this person was. He jumped in as I took a breath and asked, "How long did it take you to learn all this?" Whoa! I think he just told me something. I'm trying to listen.

I think it should reminded me of the time I was coaching Chase on Benn's T-Ball team 13 years ago. Chase was a great kid who was standing in left-center field as a ball whizzed past his ankle. As the coach I could go talk to him, after all it was T-Ball. So I got his attention, always the first step with 6 year old boys. I whipped out my best coaching mantra. I took some time and care to explain to Chase that he should be paying attention for lots of reasons. He never took his eyes off me, so I knew I was makng what might be a lasting impression on Chase and I wanted it to be good. When I finally finished, still looking me right in the eyes, Chase said, "I have Super Nintendo."

I have re-learned a lesson that Chase taught me all those years ago. I should take more opportunities to keep my mouth shut. So now what should I have said? Nothing? Suppose you were going to briefly explain the superbowl to somebody who had never watched a football game. Well that would be easier. You would simply say, "watch the commercials." How though do you catch the essence of how Benn qualified for the Olympics without going off the deep end? It was a complicated nine month long process.

Should I have said, "He paddles a purple boat." No because he qualified in three different boats, none of which was purple. His newest boat is purple, but he might paddle the blue one. The gray one got crushed on the flight to Europe. The one before that... See? Even that is too complicated. I think my problem is that I am so into this thing, but still not really actualizing the magnitude of the Olympics. Thus I talk, maybe too much. It's not exactly FRF. Other people get that, not me. Davis laughed hysterically when he read the second sentence of my previous entry. I think I need to be ready to back away a little, explain less maybe, just enjoy the chat. So with that in mind I have an answer the next time somebody asks me how Benn qualified for the Olympics. He had a good hair day.

Tom

Tuesday July 29th

I did another interview tonight. So far that hasn't gotten old. In fact I think I could enjoy getting to know this guy if the chance arose. I have no idea what he will write from the chat we had. We just sort of talked. I may come off sounding like a babbling idiot, but I doubt it. The guy was really nice. He will probably missquote me in a way that makes me sound like I have at least the intelligence of an erect two legged species. How smart are ostriches?

He said he had previously talked to Benn at the Media Summit that Benn went to earlier in the year in Chicago. I had forgotten how dangerous it could be to allow media access to a 19 year old with a sense of humor. Then this guy called and reminded me. We laughed together about some of the things Benn said to him, including something about a delusional kid with a boat. Made me realize that he's been gone for five days and... Is that violin music or am I about to pass out because I can't breath due to this lump in my throat? I'm changing the subject.

I cooked dinner for Davis and Madison tonight. Actually I started cooking and the interview guy called and Davis finished cooking. We had chicken and egg burritos. By the time the interview was done, so was dinner.

Okay I'm better now. Doing the interview caused me to flash back to some of the things Benn and I have done together. I sort of connect two big events in our paddling experience together. Early there was his first combat roll. I think he was 9 or 10. He flipped on class I whitewater. Class I is not much more than flatwater, but at the time a little shift in the current caught his edge and flipped him. I didn't know if he could roll it up or not. I watched a waited, forcing myself to give him the chance before i went in for the save. He did it and was tremendously proud of himself. Seems like not long after that (really it was probably 8 or 9 years) he invited me to run a creek with him and his roomate and slalom buddy Jim. The run was challenging for me but not too bad until we stopped to scout one rapid. He told me, "The trick is to avoid that hole." The hole I was to avoid was a hydraulic big enough to swallow a small car. Naturally I went almost straight into the hole. Several attempted rolls, a swim and a rescue by Benn and Jim took enough time that we paddled the last part of the river in the dark making it even more exciting, which I didn't need at the time. Clearly a lot had changed since Benn's first combat roll. That was the day I realized... Well you know the rest.

Tom

Sunday July 27

Wow! we got an email from Benn tonight. I guess there are a lot of differences between this trip and others he has taken, but this clearly points out one of them. There must be easy internet access in the Olympic village. We have gone days in the past before we even heard that he arrived. We knew because there were withdrawels from my bank account from banks is strange places. Sometimes he walks around near where he is staying till he finds an internet signal strong enough to use. I would like to publically thank all those people around Europe, Brazil, and Australia who have unknowingly provided Benn internet access so that he could call or write home. I remember once in the middle of a Skype (laptop to laptop) call to us that he quietly said, "Hang on." He started walking around a corner. I think he was concerned that the people next door wouldn't like him using their access. I suppose it would be a little strange to knock on somebody's door to ask permission.

At any rate that doesn't seem to be an issue this time. He said he and all his stuff arrived in one piece. He was going to finish outfitting his new boat and then paddle this afternoon. I typed that at 9 oclock at night but it's morning for him, tomorrow in fact. He also said he is pretty good at some kind of basketball game in the village arcade. I think the village has everything.

Marsha and I went to a wedding last night. It was the most fun wedding I've ever been to, dancing and laughing and Jilly Juice and all kinds of fun. Guess what came up though, yep, Olympics. Bonnie started telling stories about her trip with Marsha to Augsburg Germany to watch Benn win the Olympic spot on the team. It seems that not everything that happens in Germany stays in Germany, at least not after a few rounds of Jilly Juice. We finished the evening with what you always do after a wedding; Waffle House.

Today my sister Deb sent me an email almost admitting to having Five Ring Fever. I think she's been reading my blog. At least I know there is one reader. I'll probably send her a post card from Beijing. Actually it would be more my style to remember on the flight back that I meant to send Deb a post card and forgot. She's known me for slightly over a half century now, so she's used to that kind of behaviour. I know before neglecting her that I am already forgiven.

Tom

Saturday July 26

I was all prepared to say this time that nothing Olympic happened. Silly me. Since I thought that, a few things have happened that I can tell you about. I have a quick update on Benn, some props for Bank of America, and and update on Five Ring Fever.

I told you Benn left yesterday and stopped somewhere in California for team processing. We have talked to him a few times since he left home. We've learned to take advantage of intra-US travel to call and text as much as we want, because extra-US travel means extra tough communications. Sometimes we go a while without any word once he is outside the borders. He did all the things that he has to tolerate about the sport. They had meetings to go over the information that everybody needs for the upcoming trip. They passed out uniforms. They had some picture sessions. In one case Benn was trying to take a nap since he slept so little before his departure, ref previous blog. Somebody woke him up from the nap to do a picture session. I'm sure he smiled big for that picture.

He called on his way to the airport to start the final leg to Beijing. He sounded happy. In fact while we talked he popped a bubble (I assume bubblegum) and it sprayed on the side of Scotty P's face. Scotty is the American Kayak who will compete in the Men's Kayak class in Beijing. So Olympic Athletes are already spitting on each other and those two are on the same team and don't race each other. It's a competitive time no doubt.

Benn got away again without remembering to tell USADA where he's going. Don't tell them that sometimes when they think they are hearing from Benn it's really me. He sent me a text and asked me to log onto his email and send them an update. I've done it a few times before so I didn't even need to ask where to send the update. I got some details from Cathy,his coach and sent it. That's one of the chores that goes along with competing. USADA is US Anti Doping. As often as Benn is drug tested drug use is a worry we never consider. I assume the tests also pick up on recreational drug us. If they tested him for humorous sarcasm and cynicism his competitive career would be over.

Bank of America has put together a pretty cool website and what looks like an awesome home away from home in Beijing for athletes and families. We're looking forward to visiting their place in Beijing. The website is americascheer.com. I went there a few minutes ago and found yet more evidence of Five Ring Fever. Could it be an epidemic? Is there a cure? Do we want a cure? Well we could avoid some of the previously mention car damage and speeding tickets. At any rate if you go ot that website click on view cheers. You'll see a US map. Click on Georgia. Find Peachtree city by mousing over the boxes. It's on the southern edge of the big cluster of squares. Click on that and one of the cheers you can view is Marsha and her Five Ring Posse. She's the one wearing a life jacket. A what?! Is that to keep her sanity afloat? Face paint is also a possible symptom of Five Ring Fever. The smallest cheermeister in front with the face paint and dangerously high levels of enthusiasm is Addie.

Based on the fact that Bank Of America has posted about a billion cheers across the US I'm thinking that the CDC is probably working as I write on a vacine for Five Ring Fever. Go figure out a way to post your own cheer and let me know how to get to it, but be careful. FRF is strong stuff. Once you have it there is a tendency toward a relapse every 4 years.

Tom

Friday July 25

Holy cow! It had already been a long week, but it seems like another week passed since the last time I blogged. Wednesday night was the B-fest. Bonnie, Bobby, Bailey and McKenzie (we love her so we won't hold it against her) Had a Blowout with Beer, Bratwerst and Badminton for Benn. It was Beautiful!

Nathan came to spend some time with Benn before Benn leaves for the O. Those of us as close the games as I am, refer to them simply as the O. I made that up. Sorry. I won't say it again. Anyway Nathan showed up in Peachtree City with a dead cell phone. He of course missed the directions by that much. After an hour of wandering aimlessly he finally found a phone he could use and called. I stayed up long enough to say hello, chat a few and off to bed. My job supports a few habits so I have to keep at it.

Benn's Olympic boat arrived at the airport Thursday. I didn't say anything to him, but I have picked up Benn's new boats before and it has taken me as much as two days and a virgin sacrifice to get a boat cleared through customs. I was worried. That's what Dad's do. Well Benn and Nathan walked in, told the guy what they needed. He brought the boat out and they left with it. I still wouldn't believe it, except that when I got home they were working on outfitting the boat.

Lauren came over so I picked up some wings at Publix for the four of us. Benn had not started packing yet and he was to leave for the airport at 5:30AM the next morning. Theoretically we were all there to help him get ready. We helped him by hanging around talking till 11PM. Nathan and I went to bed at 11. I woke up at 3AM. I had the nagging feeling that Benn and Lauren talked late, fell asleep on the floor, and never got any packing done. Naturally I had to check. Again that's what Dads do. I was half right. They were asleep on the floor with all the lights still on, but Benn's bag was packed. Whoa!

Friday morning we had some eggs, bacon, and toast and of course coffee at 4:30. I cooked. That's what Dads do too. Lauren didn't have coffee. She had been a trooper and nobody could blame her for planning to go home and actually sleep some more. A little more packing and Benn and Nathan left for the airport only 20 minutes behind schedule. No sweat on making the flight on time. In factl they were good at least until they had to turn around to come back and get Benn's passport. It's just a mighty good thing that airport security wasn't a long line today. I texted several times, "Are you at the gate yet?" Another thing Dads do. I think he made it to the gate and just kept going right onto the plane.

First stop was California for Team Processing and to pick up , "a shopping cart full of clothing." It was Olympic Team uniform time.

Talk about charmed. Bonnie threw a B-fest for him. His boat was delivered the day before his departure. He got it through customs with no hassle. Close friends came to help. He packed at the last possible minute but it worked out. He remembered the passport just in time to make a perfect arrival at the airport. The apperal fairy visited him in California. How much goodness can happen to one kid in 48 hours? Oh yeah. Did I mention that brother Davis won the Junior Olympics Intermediate Boys National Championship in Shot Put today?

I'm picking Davis and Marsha up at the airport in about an hour as they return from Omaha. Bailey suggested Dinner and Darts for Davis. Do you suppose all this success is caused by superior genetics? I am ready to start taking full credit. After all, that's really what Dads do.

Tom

Wednesday July 23

Well a few days got away from me. It's been a busy week. Some of it was Olympic related and some not. With just over two weeks to go till we leave for China the whole idea still doesn't seem real. Going to China probably doesn't sound like a ibg deal to the Chinese, but to me it's almost like the other side of the world. Then there's the big show, the O. I have actually sort of thought for a long time that it might happen, but it's sort of a leap from might to actual.

A lot has happened this week to get us ready. We've checked a few boxes. Chinese Visas - check. New gear for Benn to take - check. new paddles for Benn to take - check. Get really cool article in national news paper - check. Oh yeah, did I mention that there was an article on Benn on the back cover of the sports section of USA Today? I only mention it because It was about me too. Yep, my 15 minutes of fame happened because I drove my kid a gazillion miles for his sport. Actually it was a really good article with a neat father/son spin on Benn's success. I like actually getting some credit for my part. Marsha really likes me getting that credit too. Well she probably wasn't really as jealous as she sounded. Of course the truth is that I deserve credit. After all she never raced with him. Yes I actually did and might still race sometimes. Somebody has to be last and it might as well be me.

Naturally when I saw the article come out I had to text message everybody on my phone all at once. Only my sister complained about that being at 7AM. I think the rest of us are smart enough to not keep the phone by the bed. Turn it on silent for crying out loud, Deb, and quit whining at me. It was a cool article and if I saw it at 3AM I would have sent it then. In fact next time I'm in USA Today I'll just call you.

One more thing and Benn is ready to leave. He leaves Friday, ready or not. One last thing we're waiting for is his Olympic boat. Yep, new boat just for the Olympics. He's taking two just in case. Not a bad idea since his boat got crushed on the way to the World Cup this year and we had to have a new one built and shipped just in time for the first race. There won't be time for that on this trip, so he's wearing a belt and suspenders, an expression meaning taking all precautions.

Gotta go. Time for the Badminton tournement of the century at Bonnie's house. I think Benn and I are going to wear matching outifts just to be tacky.

Tom

Sunday July 20

More friends came over today. It's not really like friends are coming over just because of the Olympic thing. They have all been close friends who visit us regularly, but most of them haven't seen Benn in a while. It looks like we're cramming in visitors just because they all want ot see the boy while he's home. Today Brigette and Kate brought doughnuts for breakfast. I think Benn needs to give up on his notion of going an entire day without the word Olympics. In fact Zane and Dave are keeping everything in perspective by texting him at least once a day, just the word "Olympics."

I went running with Benn today. We did something like 4.5 miles. That's not that far. I was sure I could do it even if he is way more fit than I am. It was really hot. He planned to do a jungle run as he calls it. That means he stops now and then to do push-ups, pull-ups, or something. I thought that might save me since I could rest while he kept working. He decided it was pretty hot so he didn't really do a lot of that kind of stuff. I was done about a mile from home. The three doughnuts I ate right before we left certainly didn't help any. I picked the closest spot that I thought he might let me walk home from and said, "I want to walk home from the bridge. If you don't want to I'll hang on, but just letting you know my preference." He said okay. Then when we got to the bridge he said go to the other side of the bridge. Now that tree up there. I said, "Okay I get it. You don't have to game me along. I'll hang."

I chilled on the couch for the rest of the day. He went to play tennis and then later went swimming. I'm ready to go to bed, and he is gone to see a movie. In fact I'm too tired to write anymore.

Saturday July 19

Davis and Benn both came home today. Davis was at a camp for throwing; hammer, shot, and discuss. He even threw a little javelin though he's not as good at that as the other three. He leaves again Monday with Marsha to go to the USATF Junior Olympics in Omaha where he will compete in hammer, shot and discuss. Benn came home from the Olympic training camp in Maryland with a stop on the way in Charlotte to sleep a little and have breakfast with Nathan, his friend who races kayak on the Canadian sllalom team.

We had the whole gang under one roof so we sat around and relaxed; NO! Davis slept till 2:30. While Davis slept I went to the gym and the grocery store. Marsha did the mom stuff that seems to keep her insanely busy lately. Benn arrived shortly after that. My mother came over. Benn and Davis wrestled in the kitchen and dining room. My mother hid behind the table. Addie turned up the volume a little to be sure she was heard. We ordered some event tickets for our trip. Addie turned up the volume a little. We inivited Benn's friends Zane and Dave to come have dinner. Addie turned up the volume a little. Davis' girlfriend Madison came to pick him up to go to see Dark Knight. While everybody was here Benn modeled a uniform Singlet (top and bottom combined) that was part of his package. Addie turned up the volume a little. With Benn's canoist build, big shoulders and skinny legs, the singlet looked like something they should have given Jeremy Warner instead of Benn. Jeremy did not drop by to show us how the singlet should look. Addie turned up the volume a little more anyway.

After that we had dinner. We laughed a lot. Benn, Zane and Dave shared humorous tidbits that kept us all laughing and smilling. Addie turned up the volume a little. Now and then I chimed in with something I thought was funny. I need to find that noisy cricket. Each time I said something funny his chirping drowned out the raucous laghter. He seems to be tuned to my voice. Addie didn't turn up the volume.

The family and the posse all dispersed to various parts and purposes. My mother went to take care of a friend's dog. Davis and Madison to the movie. Zane and Dave to seperate Zane and Dave stuff. Marsha and Addie to Bonnie's house. Benn to the late movie with Lauren who just got off work. Me? I'm looking for that damn cricket who keeps ruining my jokes.

Tom

Friday July 18

I just talked to Benn. He's on his way home from the Maryland training camp. He commented that this Olympic thing seems to be a bigger deal than he realized. Somebody pointed out to him how few people actually go to the Olympics. I told him that most people probably never even meet somebody who went to the Olympics. Yeah I think it's a big deal. It's one of those cool moments of life that is hard to find words for.

I went through one moment as cool as this before with Benn. I was standing in a cold labratory like room in a hospital. He was lying in a dishpan lined with little blankets. There was sort of a grow-light shining on him and he had more wires attached to him than my old eight track player. At the time we were measuring his age in minutes.

Now we measure his age by radical haircuts. In haircut years I think he's twelve, and this moment, in my opinion, ranks second among the coolest things we've experienced with him; second behind birth. The crazy thing is that people want to talk to me about it and I still don't have the right words. I stumble and bablble a few things that sound sentimental. I realize that Benn wouldn't approve of those things. He's not the sentimental type, so I backpedal a little and say something more matter of fact, but that's not really how I feel. I begin to lose it completely. Then I get confused. I think once I actually said, "We..Benn..love..Him..very..good..boy..Olympics." By the time I'm done I have convinced the listener that for Benn to be smart enough to do what he does he has to have been adopted.

I think that's what makes a very few people great writers. They can always find the right words to use for really cool moments like the Olympics and babies whose heads are still squashed from birth. I tried to plagiarize something from Edgar Allen Poe but nothing seemed appropriate. I think my best bet is to keep Addie with me all the time. When I start to wave my arms and make facial expressions, she takes over and starts telling all the detailed logistics; stuff I don't even remember because I'm babbling.

Tom

Thursday July 17

Five Ring Fever; Benn mentioned that he thought I might be susceptible to five ring fever. I am beginning to recognize some symptoms, but not in me. Distractedness; because your mind is wandering you don't realize you're doing 46mph in a 30 zone. That could be a symptom. Disbelief that anything bad could happen to you; "What are those blue lights for? Is he pulling me over?" I suppose this too could be a symptom. Dropping the "O bomb" at every opportunity; I'm sorry officer. I can't be in court on the 13th because I will be in China watching my son race in the Olympics. Let's go all the way to this one is probably a symptom. Inability to multi-task; even though you've done it a thousand times you can't drive past the big tree and punch the garage door opener at the same time. You hit the tree with the side of the van. Maybe that's a symptom. More than three potential symptoms occuring within 15 minutes; Oh yeah, it's becoming conclusive. Marsha might have five ring fever.

Benn texted me today to tell me that USA Today might call. I thought he was kidding. A few minutes later USA Today called. Whoa!

I've done some pretty cool stuff in my life. I used to be able to cram a whole banana in my mouth and chew it and swallow without gagging. Some of the other stuff was even better than that, but I don't remember being interviewed by anybody other than a local news agency. But let my kid do one little thing like make the US Olympic Team and I spend 20 minutes on the phone with USA Today. Go figure. You know she didn't even seem interested in the banana thing.

The training camp Benn is attending is in McHenry Maryland. It sounds like there is some media attention in McHenry Maryland. I think Benn and the gang are being interviewed a little. In fact it sounds like people are actually gathering along the course to watch the team train. You will all be happy to know that most of you are probably safe from the poparazi. This sort of attention seems to be limited to the team gathering in McHenry. I went for a run today. I didn't see a reporter or adoring fan at any point during the run. Even though I took off my shirt I feel confident that there will be no pictures of me posted on any celebrity websites. Mathew McConaughey and Benn are serving as a buffer to protect my shirtless workout privacy. Which is a good thing since it would be embarrassing to have my picture made running into a tree if I get distracted while running way too fast and dropping the "O bomb" on an unsuspecting dog-walker. Oh did that sound like I was giving Marsha a hard time? If not let me know I'll try harder.

Tom

Tuesday July 15

I'm getting used to texting. It's a great way to keep in touch with my kids. Benn turns his phone off while traveling outside the US though. When he is in the US I forget that he's available. Today I was driving down the highway and it occured to me, "Hey I can text Benn." Relax. My next thought was that I should wait till I pulled into the Autozone parking lot.

Why Autozone? Well Marsha parked our red truck in the driveway and then 5 minutes later she backed the Subaru into it breaking the left tail light. I can't complain. All she did was match the lights up from when I backed the truck into a school bus. Yes that's right a big yellow school bus. How do you not see that looming in the mirror? Oh yeah. This is supposed to be about our Olympic experience. Well there was this Olympic sized school bus... JK. That's text lingo for Just Kidding.

So anyway I texted Benn. He said he was tired. He said that today at the training camp he did two paddling workouts with a rock climbing session in between. Life as a serious athlete doesn't sound so bad does it? He's hanging out at this really cool resort area where most ordinary mortals pay to raft this cool whitewater course and climb this artificial rock wall. He is essentially doing the same thing, maybe with more intensity than most of us are capable of, but for him it's called training.

Maybe the training is paying off though. I saw him take his shirt off while he was home. Not bad for the little boy who used to run around my house wearing black rubber boots and a red cape. I took my shirt off too just to demonstrate to him that a keg is more impressive than a six pack.

I came straight home from the Autozone and went for a run. If I'm going to beat him in a tennis match when he gets home I'll need to be fit. I guess now that I'm sweaty I should go replace my tail light. I'd hate to get pulled over on the way to work in the morning and have to explain that I went for a run rather than replace the light because my kid has a 6 pack and I have a keg. G2G. That's text lingo for got to go.

Tom

Monday July 14

I've been gone a few days. I took Davis to the Junior Olympics Region III Championships in Rock Hill SC. He is a thrower, hammer, shot and discus. That's about as different from Whitewater Slalom as you can get. I wonder if that means something.

Benn left before we got back. He went to a training camp in Maryland. That is sort of the story of his career, always traveling somewhere. For several years I always got to go and play too. I won't say that the top boats on the racing circuit saw me as a rising threat, but...well...yeah I just won't say that.

Benn is not that kid who used to need me to drive him around the country any longer. He is more independent that I wish. If there truly were "ends of the earth," he would have raced there by now. And he doesn't even need me to go when he does long driving trips in the US anymore. That is probably why I got sort of excited when he called from somewhere in VA asking me to find a hotel on his route so he could spend the night and start fresh the next morning. It wasn't as much fun as getting to paddle at the training camp, but for me it was safer.

He made it to the camp. He sent me a text to tell me so. Usually when he travels internationally I track him by withdrawels from my checking account. I have done plenty of google searches on bank names to find out what country he was in. I didn't have to do that this time though. It's nice where he is. It's a great course, beautiful setting, and some good friends in the area. The only thing that could make it better would be if I got to go play too, but maybe it's better not to make the top boats nervous this close to the Olympics.

Tom

Thursday July 10

We can be pretty competitive at the Fraker house. In the Fall we bet pushups on football games. We rarely just watch. I've lost as many as 1000 on a superbowl game. If we ever get to see that Manning vs Manning match up I'll bet 2000 on Archie without batting an eye. Some of us dads can still hang with the boys and I believe he could be our poster child.

Benn and I played tennis yesterday. We've had some fierce running competitions in ping pong, intense wrestling matches, even the brick breaker game on my blackberry can charge up our competitive spirit. We three boys can be heard to do some trash talking too. Who am I kidding? Even Addie gets in on that. Davis and I once went to Slovenia to watch Benn race. When we found him with the Junior Team in his hotel, Benn and Davis both jumped me in the hall. We wrestled till one of my knees bled from rug burn.

It should come as no surprise then that our tennis match was, as always, very competitive. Two games went back an forth so long that we finally decided to end the match with a tie breaker so we could go eat supper. Benn won. It was only because I toyed with him too long much like a cat toys with a mouse before finishing it off. In fact I think I heard him call me "El Tigre" which is Spanish for, "way cooler than just saying The Tiger." I may have been mistaken. From across the court, with the right accent, "El Tigre" sounds kind of similar to "El Checkbook."

Tom

Tuesday July 8

Benn came home last night. He returned from Augsburg Germany after placing 5th in the Augsburg race of the World Cup series (He was 3rd overall in the World Cup). I hate that Marsha missed his homecoming. She is still in Germany, but her consolation is that she got to see him win the Olympic spot. Yes his performance in that race won him a spot on the US Olympic Team.

Some friends came over during the day yesterday and helped his brother Davis and sister Addie fill his bedroom to shoulder height with balloons, 1250 balloons to be exact, and hang streamers from the ceiling. More friends hung a banner across the front of our house and amazingly Nike sent us some friends and family team gear in time for the three of us to go to the airport embarrassingly tricked out in Olympic stuff. Benn hates all that showy kind of stuff, which of course is half the reason it happened. He took it in the spirit of good fun and is glad we’re proud of him. Then he and Addie and Davis played in the balloons for a while as if they were all seven years old. Eventually Benn pushed enough balloons out of his room so that he could find the bed and collapse.

Good to have the boy home and at times the fact that he is an Olympian now is almost irrelevant… almost.

Tom