Celebrating Strong Women

I am really late getting my blog updated today. We had quite a nasty storm blow through last night, and I had several trees that came down, one on the gate of my front pasture. Several trees came down in the back pasture, too, but luckily none of the animals were hurt and none of those trees damaged the fencing. I did have some large branches down, and I had to check the whole fence-line to get it cleared. We only have two acres fenced in the back, so it is not like I had to check a half-mile of fence, but I still felt a kindred connection to the cowgirls who have done this through the centuries. The rest of the morning was spent arranging for someone to come and cut the big tree off the front gate and get me a new one. Gate, not tree.

So my post will be short and sweet today. First I want to congratulate all the women on the U.S. Olympic team. Talk about strong women.  Of the 90 total medals won by the U.S. team, the majority have been won by women. I searched for the exact number, but could not find it. Yesterday I saw this on USA Today: The USA has 34 gold medals, and women account for 23 of them. I thought that was pretty impressive.

I also thought the two women from Saudi Arabia, the first ever female athletes to be allowed to compete in the Olympics, were pretty impressive. The first, sixteen year -old judo athlete Wojdan Shaherkani was the first to compete, only to lose in her first round. The other female athlete, nineteen year-old Sarah Attar, has a dual Saudi and American citizen. She, too did not have an outstanding showing as a runner in the 800-meter race, but that did not keep the crowd from cheering anyway.

(Lucy Nicholson/Courtesy Reuters)

 Both of those woman fought hard to just be allowed to compete for their country, and for that, I consider them the strongest women in the Olympics. 

And now for a little fun. The other day Trish Jackson blogged about how our right and left brains work together - or not. (smile) She has an interesting test on her page, as well as a link to a test you can take to see if you are right or left brain dominant. Interesting test, and my results are below, along with a link to the test if you would like to take it.

Right Brain/ Left Brain Quiz The higher of these two numbers below indicates which side of your brain has dominance in your life. Realising your right brain/left brain tendancy will help you interact with and to understand others. Left Brain Dominance: (9) Right Brain Dominance: (14) Right Brain/ Left Brain Quiz

Strong Woman - Gabby Douglas

I could hardly celebrate strong women without featuring Gabby Douglas today. Just in case you have not heard the news, she is the USA Olympic Gymnast from Virginia Beach, VA, and yesterday she made history as the first African American to win a Gold Medal in the women's gymnastics all around. In a report on USA Today online, Douglas was quoted as saying "Someone mentioned that I was the first black American (to win the all-around gold), and I said, 'Oh yeah, I forgot about that!' I feel so honored."

Miami Herald columnist Leonard Pitts would be proud of her for saying that. He has been very vocal about his wish that color did not matter anymore. But that is a topic for another time.

Today, I want to celebrate Gabby for the magnificent performance on all the apparatus in the competition. To watch her fly on the parallel bars and soar on the vault was amazing, but the floor routine was a highlight for me. I wish I had taped it so I could watch it again. She managed to couple athleticism and grace and beauty in a way that took my breath away.

According to reports, balance beam has not been a favorite of hers,  but she had no trouble with it on Thursday. Just look at that height, that perfect form. Wow!

Photo courtesy of UPI

Photo courtesy of Hip Hop Wired

Douglas took the gold with a score of 62.232, which makes her the fourth USA Olympic women's all-around champion in history. Douglas, who is only 16, is also the second U.S. woman to win multiple gold medals at an Olympics in 16 years. U.S. gymnast Shannon Miller achieved that feat in 1996.

Douglas also became the fourth U.S. gymnast to capture the coveted all-around title, following the success of Mary Lou Retton, Carly Patterson and Nastia Liukin. The vivacious young gymnast also became the first American to win the team gold and the all-around gold in the same Olympics.

Wow, amazing amazing accomplishments for the girl who has sacrificed so much for a sport she loves. Kudos to her and to her family for coming so far.

Gabby with her mother, Natalie Hawkins (R) and host "Mom", Missy Parton.

 To read about Gabby's incredible journey from her first taste of gymnastics to now, visit her website