Curling in Charlotte?!

TIL you can take a 2h Learn to Curl class in Charlotte!

Yelper Jess L (whom I don't know personally) says about it, "Have you ever woken up one morning and been like "Hm, I wonder what olympic sport I'll try today?" and then you think of the most random sport you could think of and you research where you can learn it..."

This we gotta try!  Curl away, Big Frog!

Ice sports

Me (from the other room): What are you watching?
Big Frog: Well, it was curling, but now it's ice skating. 
Me (entering the room, where a purple and spangled skater is gliding across the tv screen):  I know what you mean, and you stated it very clearly, but my version is better.  In my mind, the curler let go the rock and decided, "I think I'm gonna do a triple toe, right now."


photo from Yee-union Calgary, 2011.  "Curling is the lifeblood of our country" ~quoted from the Sports Hall of Fame at Calgary Olympic Park

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Similarly, I told another friend recently about road stories: when you see something interesting, everyone has to tell a story about what they're carrying and what they're going to do with it.  There are separate categories for reasonable accuracy ("yeah, that makes sense"/"I suppose you're right") and absurd creativity.  This can be implemented when you see an oddly shaped bundle on the back of a pickup, or a car packed to the gills, or a product placement tractor trailer, but it's most fun when there's something truly unexpected on the roads, like in her particular case, a pair of massive turbines.  Or one time I was followed thru Harrisburg by the Kissmobile.

Curl away, my son!

Many moons ago (last spring?), Big Frog was sleeplessly channel surfing and found a marvelous? thing.  Late-night televised curling.

But not curling like this dude, Crush from Finding Nemo. 

Curl away, my son!  

Nope.  Think significantly more Canadian than that.  The kind of curling with a 44lb granite stone (Curiously, a curling stone weighs approximately, but not exactly, 3 stone.) with a handle, and sweepers wielding brooms.  (Way back in high school, when my youth group went to play broom ball at the local ice rink, I thought we would be curling.  Turns out broom ball is more like street hockey, sneakers and all, but played on ice.) 

As Big Frog watched, he saw in the stands curling hats.  CURLING.  HATS.  Like cheeseheads for Canadians.  This was important enough that he remembered it and told me about it in the morning.  We went online and there evidently is a significant market for these items.

(screenshots from curlinghats.com)

But would he want one?  Would he wear one?  Sadly (?), no.  But a toss pillow, that might be fun (as long as it didn't weigh 44lb).  I started stitching towards his birthday (admittedly without a fixed eye towards honestly getting it done in that time frame), got distracted into several other projects, and finally finished at Christmastime, if not technically for Christmas.

Sweet.

Also, this.  It's been a crafty week.