Play School

This was the name of a wonderful children's educational program (programme over there) , back before I became a 20 - something. It was hosted by a guy called Brian Cant and a lovely lady called Chloe Ashcroft. Was I in love with her? Was I ever! Once I started to begat, it was a ritual to watch this program with the offspring. They seemed to understand it. Not sure if I ever did. Even my dog liked the furry animals - Chloe was in charge of them. Sometimes they would cause trouble. I recall there was there was Jemima, Hamble, Humpty, Dapple, Big Ted, and Little Ted. Anyone remember the others?

"A house, With a door! Windows, 1, 2, 3, 4. [rat-a-tat-tat] Ready to play?What's the day?*.." was the start of the program. "Today we'll go through the round window" followed...

Later, the BBC decided it was time to introduce some ethnicicity, and a wonderful lady called Floella Benjamin joined the cast. She was brilliant. She once sang a song, "Five grey elephants balancing, Side by side on a piece of string". Wonder what became of her and the others.

Why am I re"cant"ing this today? Mainly because the weather is awful. It's rained most of the day. I drove through a heck of a storm this morning, and the driver's window miraculously opened of its own accord. I was in the wet spot between banking duties. When I got home, I fell into a deep sleep, and dreamt of this program. Having Susan (3) and fidgetting the whole time, and Rik (1) sitting on my lap, complete with dog. Not sure if I could fit Susan and Rik on my lap these days. Would I want to?

I recall one episode where Brian Cant visited The White Horse at Uffington. This is a site where the image is a representation of a horse (some would say dragon) some 374 feet in length, and is thought to date back as far as 1,000BC in the late Bronze Age. It is in the mid-southern part of England. It is said that if you stand in the "head" of the horse, and make a wish, it will come true. Brian Cant said a prayer there for one of his children. It was very moving. I took the begatted there once. They were not impressed. Seems that an illegal saunter into East Germany was much more exciting.

Such is life. Here endeth today's lesson.