The presentation was by Swati and Chloe and the youngsters were very attentive and loved the colourful stickers. I must admit that I often fall short of the two minute teeth cleaning regime, but I will try harder. You can read about the presentation in the next edition of Hethersett Herald which will be out on the last day of January.
Swati oozes passion for dental hygiene. You could say it is her bag and her aim in life is to pass on her knowledge, her expertise and ensure that everyone's smile is bright, bright, bright.
I love people who are passionate about their interest, work or subject. I guess you could say that I'm passionate about writing and I hope that does come through a little bit on these blogs.
There are people I only know through television who I love and others who annoy me intensely. There is no rhyme or reason behind why I really like presenter Dan Walker but find Matt Baker hugely annoying. Nor is there any reason why I should like Gyles Brandreth but I do and it's probably because he is an obsessional writer. I once heard that he has well over 80 large boxes of his writings which include memoirs, diaries and much more. This is the kind of fellow I can associate myself with. Anyway back to the Beavers.
The session ended with a fun floss (that's the dance and not the teeth cleaning stuff). Thankfully I was behind the camera and so didn't have to floss (you will have read about my terrible singing in yesterday's blog. Well my dancing is even worse).
I have fond memories of Beavers and Cubs from my sons' involvement many moons ago. I particularly remember one evening when I turned up at the end of the session to pick up my youngest. He came out holding his hand and said "dad I've had an accident." His hand was a bloody mess and one of his fingers was crushed.
"Oh my goodness (or words similar)" I said. We'll have to get you to hospital. Suddenly he burst into a broad grin. I had forgotten that they were having a make-up artist for that session. It was a very realistic injury. I sighed with relief.
The leaders later told me they had picked on me as the dad of the "injured and mangled" boy because they knew I wouldn't panic and over-react. I took it as a compliment.
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Yesterday I mentioned that Objects In The Rear View Mirror was my favourite Meatloaf song and it was written, like so many of Meatloaf's output, by Jim Steinman who wrote epic songs. This one just grabs me. The lyrics are at times brutal, particularly when you know that Meatloaf was physically abused as a child by his drunken and violent father.
Below are just a portion of the lyrics from this song. I defy anyone to listen to the words about the father and not be moved by what the son went through. Meatloaf has said that his Steinman songs aren't about anyone in particular but it's pretty obvious that this one is biographical.
The skies were pure and the fields were green,
And the sun was brighter than it's ever been
When I grew up with my best friend, Kenny,
We were close as any brothers that you ever knew
It was always summer and the future called
We were ready for adventures and we wanted them all
And there was so much left to dream,
And so much time to make it real
But I can still recall the sting of all the tears when he was gone
They said he crashed and burned, I know I'll never learn
Why any boy should die so young
We were racing - we were soldiers of fortune
We got in trouble but we sure got around
There are times I think I see him peeling out of the dark
I think he's right behind me now, and he's gaining ground!
But it was long ago and it was far away
Oh God it seems so very far
And if life is just a highway - then the soul is just a car
And objects in the rear view mirror may appear closer than they are
And when the sun descended and the night arose
I heard my father cursing everyone he knows
He was dangerous and drunk and defeated,
And corroded by failure and envy and hate
There were endless winters and the dreams would freeze
No where to hide and no leaves on the trees
And my father's eyes were blank as he hit me again and again and again
I know I still believe he'd never let me leave, I had to run away alone
So many threats and fears - so many wasted years before my life became my own
And though the nightmares should be over
Now some of the terrors are still intact
I'll hear that ugly coarse and violent voice
And then he grabs me from behind and then he pulls me back!
But it was long ago, and it was far away
Oh God, it seems so very far
And if life is just a highway - then the soul is just a car
In my all time top 100 song list this epic weighs in at number 72.
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Poppy received some lovely comments about her blog yesterday and she was very appreciative. She's now putting together a powerpoint display on re-cycling! Meanwhile grandson Elliot joined us for a sleepover and took to doing the new craze of Wordle. Basically each day there is a five letter word that you have to work out and you have six goes to get the answer. It's a bit like a word version of that old game Mastermind where you have to work out coloured pegs. In Wordle if a letter turns green it means it is in the correct position. If it turns orange the letter is correct but it is in the wrong position. Well Elliot opened the website up and put in a guess and it was correct. The wordsmith's equivalent of a golfing hole in one. We looked up the odds of doing that and they were somewhere in the region of 13,000-1. He assures me he had no prior knowledge of the word.