Hoop De Doo

I remember when Giant Tiger gave away free hula hoops. I stood in line with my mother and my sister for what seemed like hours until I got my red hoop. They were all the rage at the time and I went home and tried and tried until I could swing my hips in the proper motion and make it go around more than a couple of times. I remember I was pretty good at it and we played with them until we got sick of them or one of the dads ran them over in the driveway and they got bent. We also learned to toss them so they would come back to us and that delighted us nonstop.
Imagine my surprise when I started watching the Rhythmic Gymnastics yesterday and those girls came out with hula hoops. I have never seen anything like it in my whole life. They could toss those things and do acrobatics and then end up right where the hoop came down and caught it in their hands or even better on their foot or some other body part. I have never seen a hula hoop have that much action. It was a combination of strength and beauty kinda like ballet on steroids.
Then they came out with the clubs. Ohmygosh, that was something else too. I just kept going ohmygosh over and over again and holy sh** when those girls did some extraordinary tricks. I can't even remember them exactly now I was just so blown away.
Then came the ribbons. I never knew what all you could do with a ribbon on a stick. Trust me it defies description. The ribbons are 19 feet long and those girls could make them do all kinds of swoops and swirls as they were continuing those graceful gymnastic moves. The combination of the girls' bodies and the swirling ribbons were lovely.
I especially loved the girl with the red ribbon. I think she was from Russia. Her costume was white with Russian looking embroidery on it and it had a high collar that looked like an intricate neck band. She had a smile on her face and a confidence that exuded from every pore. I am so glad I got to see it.
Anyway now I know why the hula hoop became part of the gym(oh, sorry physical education) program in our elementary school. If those kids only knew what they could do!!