I've had a very good week off. Bearing in mind I was supposed to be refereeing an international football tournament in Denmark this week, ultimately, I'm very glad I didn't go. The weather here has been marvellous, events almost non-stop and to miss the start of the Olympics, escaping the country whilst the whole world's eyes are on yours would have been a regrettable mistake.
The start of the week mainly saw me enjoying the sunshine as we had a couple of nets in the baking heat and also just relaxing down the park, basking in temperatures touching 30 degrees. It was a life you could get used to, but I was pretty damn determined to forget about work completely and enjoy it. We had a laugh, enjoyed ourselves, ate ice-cream and for the majority of this week, I have been loving life.
But I was loving it even more when the clock ticked round to 00:00 on Friday 27th July 2012. Officially, the starting date of London 2012, and I'll be the first to admit that, before then, I hadn't really got involved in the buzz of it all. After reading and listening to all the negativity surrounding security, cost and Phillips Idowu, the day had finally come and we, as a country, could let the events do the talking. For the whole of Friday, despite not being totally fussed about the Olympics before, I was absolutely buzzing for the Opening Ceremony from the Olympic Stadium.
The ceremony itself was incredible. Amazing. Inspiring. Spine-tingling. 11 out of 10. Seriously, a lot of people were saying beforehand that we were going to embarrass ourselves in the midst of Beijing 2008, but in my honest and most probably biased opinion, the opening ceremony of London 2012 topped it. It was different, original, comic and spectacular all at once and I could not take my eyes off it for the whole 3 and a half hours. Everything from the electric Industrial Revolution routine, to the bizarreness of the parachuting Queen to the pure genius of Rowan Atkinson, right to the very end where the honour of lighting the cauldron was handed over to the next generation, and even finding out that there were countries competing that you've never heard of. The whole thing was an experience and a half and I am so, so glad I was in the country to watch it, as it was happening just down the road.
As for the actual sport, I haven't really had much of a chance to watch a lot. On Saturday, Bedford CC had a free week, so I helped out Riseley CC and hit a pretty good 34 before losing concentration. We lost by 1 wicket, which was pretty annoying but not too gut-wrenching.
"However. All of a sudden, I have a case of the 'Holiday Blues', as a return to work is imminent..."
...Is what I should be saying. But I don't think I do. I knew this moment would come. I have accepted it and accept that I will be walking to work at midday to do my stint, working towards my targets and hoping that GB don't win too many gold medals so we don't have to give away "gold medal stamps" to the strange stamp-collecting people...
But I'll leave it there. The Olympic Games is in London! I'll try and catch some of it, and enjoy it at the same time! Have a good week!
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