Beauty is in the eye of the beholder

Linking up with Kirsty for I must confess on sport - Timely because it is Superbowl Sunday. I'm going for the Broncos but my heart isn't in it with these two teams...Anyway,  I love sport. There is never enough in my book. Bring on the Winter Olympics where we get 2 weeks of 24 hour sport...YAY!! Then World Cup where I traipse around town at all hours to watch games live. So into the archives for some pretty pictures, on how beautiful sport can be.

 

I love motor sport - not all motor sport, but in particular the Dakar Rally. Every year, come January, I follow closely live coverage through the web, and everything must stop to allow me to watch the highlights in peace. Smart daddy knows the kids must not be allowed to disturb this 30 minute window each evening.

I run a sweep, and harass 39 people to give me money to be in it, purely so I have people to discuss the race with. Some are gradually moving over to love it too. Most just humour me, delete my emails unread and are happy if they win money.

I have gone to great lengths to get playmobil service trucks from Germany, French Terry Sabine boardgames from the '70's and other such collectables to brainwash my kids into liking it. Santa even likes to bring everyone an item of Dakar clothing, and I have a complete Dakar luggage set, as you do.

I've been watching a number of riders and drivers evolve over the last 20 years - and my interest has evolved over time too - I used to only like the bikes and cars, and big name professionals, but now I LOVE the trucks and amateurs.

There is nothing as beautiful (or terrifying) as watching the behemoths tear through the dunes. They race through the most awe-inspiring and often vast deserts, and bring far corners of the earth to my little urban home.

One interesting thing that has evolved with the advent of facebook and twitter, is that the information one can follow the race with is exceptional. The drivers themselves tell you what's happening, even before the press releases go out.

These photos are of the Mongolian Rally, and come via Teruhito Sugawara, who gave me his permission to use them all the way from outer Mongolia (literally) this morning - in a real time conversation.

The Hino Trucks are my favourite, as the senior Sugawara, 71 year old Yoshimasa(-san), has been in over 30 Dakars, and obviously every single one I've followed. Still determined and still going strong, he's inspirational as the Dakar is not the kindest of conditions. The lure of the Dakar from the armchair is the stories that go with it. There are always fabulous backstories of courage, generosity or determination.

While most people find it odd, I've discovered many of my ilk through the social media. We all see the race through the same tinted glasses. Come January, we like to find others with the same interest & passion, to share thoughts and chat about the day's events.

But I think there's a lesson in the converse. It's something to remember with other people. There will always be people that like things you don't understand, kids especially. But maybe from time to time we need to try to see things with their eyes, or we need to explain what we love to them in a language they understand. Maybe a new door will open, a new interest or a shared hobby. Or maybe it won't. But there's certainly no harm in giving it a try from time to time.

So next time your kid sits down to watch something stupid or play a computer game or whatever it may be, why not join them for half an hour? You never know until you try.

(I understand this post may have limited interest to 99 percent of you, but I defy anyone to not see the beauty in these photographs! The first is of the bivouac in Mongolia; the refuelling one I like because whenever they talk about not having enough fuel for everyone at the fuel stop, it took me a long time to understand there weren't petrol stations in the middle of nowhere...so the image of the fuel truck makes me smile at my own stupidity. The last one, I can not look at without grinning - it's elating to watch the massive trucks literally fly through the dunes, even in a still shot!)