The Winter Olympics: Two weeks of dreaming.

Get ready for the snowblast. 

Not here, unfortunately.

The Winter Olympics start Friday (Feb. 4) in Beijing for two weeks of non-stop winter sports. 

If you're a fan of skiing, hockey, the luge and the like, there's a deluge of options for viewing. 

It's a "snow-blast." 

Get it?

For all the hype and hysteria that comes with any Olympic games, it's also the stuff from which dreams are made. 

Specifically, the dreams of children perched in front of the TV - or laptop, or tablet, or phone - are often inspired by the heroes who spring up along the way. 

Nearly every gold medalist tells stories of wanting to be "that person" when they were little. They want to go that fast, be that agile or fly that far. 

That's the magic of the Olympics. 

Somehow it always rises above the challenges of geopolitics, weather and construction delays. This year in China, it's the snow. 

There isn't any. Not real snow, anyway.

This is the first winter Olympics to be contested on 100 percent man-made snow. 

The reality of a snowless Olympics has been coming for some time. It was about 90 percent four years ago and 80 percent four years before that.

So, it's not just here.

But the origin of the snow will be lost to the thrill of competition. The highs and lows. The glory and pain.

It's just fun. 

That's why we love winter sports at Spoke-n-Sport. Stop by our Minnesota Avenue store and you'll see it in our team. Or you can check out our inventory of skis, snowboards, apparel and service.

Spend an hour at Great Bear in Sioux Falls on a sunny and crisp Saturday afternoon and you'll see it. 

The place is crawling with kids. Sure, it's not Vail but at some measure it doesn't matter. It's here and it's snow. 

It's pure joy. 

That wonder translates from Great Bear to Beijing. It wasn't that long ago, the stars of 2022 were just like those kids.

Having fun. Going fast. Flying far.

Dreaming.