Gold is Where You Find It

I had intended to put up a short story on the blog tonight, a ghostly tale set in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Fate got in the way and instead I’m writing about something totally different. Perhaps it still involves a ghost.

Frequent readers to Musings know that a horrible computer virus all but disabled me for the past week. First, it took out my laptop. When I transferred files to my desktop it took that computer out also. I’ve had computer viruses before but this one Antivirus XP 2008 is by far the worst. Hey, and my TV sets were also on the blink this week.

I got one of my computers back on line today, as well as my TV sets and like millions of other fans I began watching Olympic coverage from Beijing. I had meant to do something else as I watched the beginning of the women’s marathon but I was soon hooked and I watched it until the end.

I am a huge fan of racing. I follow everything from NASCAR, to Iditarod and Tour de France, to the Triple Crown. I also love track and field and think the marathon is the single-most difficult event in the Olympics. The race I witnessed tonight convinced me of that.

The race started at a very mundane pace, no one wanting to break away from the pack. The race was more than an hour old before thirty-eight year old Constantina Tomescu-Dita began stepping up the pace. I continued to watch with rapt attention as Tomescu-Dita entered the Olympic stadium to a cheering crowd. Falter she did not.

Tomescu-Dita is now the oldest-ever winner of the women’s marathon. The best was yet to come. As I began watching the swimming coverage, I set amazed as Dara Torres at forty-one years of age won a silver medal in her last individual race. Minutes later she anchored the 400 Meter Medley for yet another Silver medal.

The excitement wasn’t over. I watched Michael Phelps set Olympic history by winning his eighth gold medal in the 400 Medley Relay. The hero wasn’t Michael but the thirty-two year old Jason Lezak. He anchored the world record-setting race.

I had my ghost experience when I went to the utility room to feed my hounds and kitties. On the floor was a neckerchief – one of my neckerchiefs. I quit jogging about ten years ago but when I jogged I always wore a neckerchief around my neck. I don’t have a clue where this one came from but it was mine, and it was knotted for action.

As I peck out this story tonight, I wonder about the mystery neckerchief, where it came from, and what the message means. As I ponder the mystery, Dara Torres’ words rattle in my head. Forty-one year old Torres said “Don’t put an age limit on your dreams.”

I’m a baby boomer. I was a hippie in the sixties and served in Vietnam. Still, I believe my best days are still ahead and tomorrow I’m going to hit the track. Will I win gold or set a world record? You bet I will!

Louisiana Mystery Writer