Friday, April 23, 2010

this charming girl...episode 10

1966 and all that...


10. ~ a red telephone box

a bright & cheerful little kiosk, somehow symbolic of the country where I was born & raised - England.
I have a vivid childhood memory of being squashed inside such a phone box with 2 of my sisters. I was on tip-toe, while balanced precariously on a pile of telephone directories - my 'task' was to feed the slot with the large 2p copper coins, while my older sisters shared the responsibility of trying to operate the old fashioned rotary dial (almost a junior equivalent of driving without power steering...) and holding the heavy Bakelite receiver. united & against all odds, we made that call! 


today is St George's day - celebrated in honour of England's patron saint, infamous for a legendary encounter with a dragon.
the plain red & white St George's Cross is the English flag, which makes up only part of the Union Jack - the red, white & blue flag of the United Kingdom of Great Britain & Ireland (including Scotland & Wales)



today, Canada is my home. I love it here. ...but I am and always will be proud to be English. 


this pride will never be more apparent than this summer - when I will join millions around the globe gripped by the Beautiful Game aka footy fever (that's soccer to you North American guys) when the FIFA World Cup kicks off in South Africa.
I will be singing '3 Lions on a shirt', I will be hoarse from screaming at the 'ahem', gentleman in black,  I, more than likely, will be hiding my face during agonising penalty shoot-outs but this year I just know I'll be celebrating an English victory. 


1 comment:

  1. Woohoo another fellow Brit-Canuck who celebrated St George's Day!! Was starting to worry I was one of very few people who remembers it! Can't wait to watch the footy and fly my St George flag with pride again! :)

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