I escaped the Great White North winter for about 5 weeks. I’m a volunteer with the Gymnastics Federation and did some coaching at the two competitive clubs.
Population of Bermuda is only about 65,000.
I’ve been coming to Bermuda since 2016. But still treat every goodbye as my last. 😎
Talking to Canadians: A Memoir was published Nov 2021.
It’s recommended. Very funny.
One of the best lines (by Greg Thomey) …
I’d rank Rick Mercer the funniest Canadian of my lifetime.
He is best known for his work on the CBC Television comedy shows This Hour Has 22 Minutes and Rick Mercer Report … which ended 2018 after 15 seasons.
Mercer’s two-minute “rants”, in which he would speak directly to the camera about a current political issue are what I remember best.
Like many of Canada’s best comedians, Rick is from Newfoundland. Understand?
I downloaded the audio book from the library — ideal, as Rick is the narrator.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Rick interviewed Kyle Shewfelt. Funny.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Click through to see the River of Light installations, each with a Gymnastics theme.
In the 1970s academic kids in my neighbourhood went to Viscount Bennett High School. The rest (losers 😀) went to Earnest Manning High School which had far superior TRADES training.
The internet accelerated the fortunes of knowledge workers. Relative wages of those working in trades declined.
Everyone wanted to be a white collar worker. Sitting all day at a computer manipulating electrons.
Author/mechanic Matthew Crawford argues that is wrong. And is changing.
He quit his job at a Think Tank, instead opening a Motorcycle repair shop.
Matthew’s book is titled Shop Class as Soulcraft: An Inquiry into the Value of Work.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Van Neistat makes an even better argument. A Spirited Man can build and fix things. Help his friends and family. A real man can do manual labour.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Me?
I’m hopeless. Not the least handyman you know, … but close.
I ride bikes but can’t fix them when they breakdown.
By comparison, my Dad and brother Rob are career Jack-of-all-Trades.
The late great buddy Rob Glaser was probably my most trusted authority for all things broken.
Needless to say, he was expert in living outdoors. Manipulated firewood with his bare hands, for example.
In the wild you want to carry only those items which can be repaired on the go. Metal, not plastic.
In 2022 it would be smart to seek work in an occupation where you can’t easily be replace by a computer. Gymnastics coach, for example. It will be a long time before Artificial Intelligence replaces human sport coaching.
Take pride in being able to physically make and repair things.
After 2 years, I finally got back to Bermuda, this time a month with the NEW Gymnastics Federation. I’m an appointed non-voting consultant on their Board
This trip was busier than ever before jumping back and forth between the two largest clubs.
With the Federation, we’re dealing directly with the Bermuda Olympic Association, still joyous about Flora Duffy winning the Triathlon at the Tokyo Olympics.
BEST was having no Spring allergies in Bermuda. What a relief from Canada.
The weather was mixed. We had more cloud, rain and wind than I can recall in the past.
I’m not sure when I’ll next get back to the Triangle. Perhaps May / June 2022 for our proposed 1st ever Bermuda National Gymnastics Championships.
End of the road.
My last trip before pandemic shut down travel was to Bermuda. March 2020.
Exactly 2 years later I was finally able to return. Just in time to help with the annual Bermuda International Gymnastics Competition (VIDEO) — though we had no international competitors this year. We kept it fast and fun hoping to inspire kids that the new normal would soon be here.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
I lived in the ‘toon for 10 years. After pandemic delays, I finally got back to visit my longtime friends there.
The big skies at dawn and dusk have a unique prairie beauty.
I been hangin’ around grain elevators
I been learnin’ ’bout food
I been talkin’ to soil farmers
I been workin’ on land
Warren took me disc golfing. NOW I’m planning to buy some discs of my own.
Tried it once. Found it too complicated. LAWS too restrictive.
BUT — what about indoors?
Gymnastics Clubs would allow it. Of course I’d need an expensive one — something like the new DJI FPV ( $1,299 plus accessories).
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Here’s some indoor footage.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
(*Denotes newly elected)
“I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Gymnastics Canada membership, and the GymCan Board, for the honour of being elected and then selected as the Chairperson of the Board of Directors,” said Thomson who has 40 years of experience in the sport of gymnastics and is currently a member of the FIG Technical Committee for Men’s Artistic Gymnastics. …
GymCan.org
Jeff Thomson
Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus by Dusti Bowling is a treat.
A young adult novel, it’s ideal for younger kids too.
I grew up with Carol Johnston, the gymnast who was featured in the Disney TV movie Lefty (1980)
Nobody called Carol “Lefty” back at Altadore. We called her Carol, one of the best gymnasts in the club.
It was difficult for any other gymnast to complain about anything as Carol worked even harder — and never complained.
Carol passed away on May 11, 2019 due to complications from Early On-set Alzheimers, by the way. Sad. But her legend lives on.
She’s still a role model for gymnasts with physical challenges.
Aven Green loves to tell people that she lost her arms in an alligator wrestling match, or a wildfire in Tanzania, but the truth is she was born without them.
And when her parents take a job running Stagecoach Pass, a rundown western theme park in Arizona, Aven moves with them across the country knowing that she’ll have to answer the question over and over again.
Her new life takes an unexpected turn when she bonds with Connor, a classmate who also feels isolated because of his own disability, and they discover a room at Stagecoach Pass that holds bigger secrets than Aven ever could have imagined.
There are sequels.
Click PLAY or watch the author on YouTube.
Rick McCharles 