Tuesday, January 24, 2006

How Green Was My Valley.


Brenda Dayne, the Fairy Podmother of the knitting community, asked me to join the Welsh National Team for the Knitting Olympics. As you can see from this photo taken with Brenda (in our Welsh national knitting costumes) -- I am much younger than she. I am humbled and honored by her request, and have undertaken a course of study (in addition to training) so that I might do my new country proud.

The national anthem of Wales is Hen Wlad fy Nhadau. It's a beautiful melody, but the words all sound like they are sung with a mouth full of caramel. Don't ask me how to pronounce anything. Pretty much everything can be pronounced by taking a bite from a charleston chew and reading from the phone book.

The capital of Wales is Cardiff. There is nothing funny about Cardiff. I've looked. Nothing.

I contemplated attending university at the University of Wales in Aberystwyth, on Cardiagn Bay, but changed my mind, realizing I'd never be able to pronounce so much as the name of my dorm.

Wales' major exports are: manufactured goods (would this include wool?), fuels, chemicals, food, beverages, and tobacco.

Natural hazards: winter windstorms, flooding. So if you move to higher ground to escape the floods, you run a risk of being blown away.

Nothing more to say now than GO TEAM!

7 comments:

Elisabeth said...

You defected for the Knitting Olympics??!?!?!?! That's it, you are no longer entitled to apple pie, baseball, or complaining about George Bush. Wait til I tell the State Dept.....

Gaelic-style languages are cool. You gotta love a language that can spell words without using vowels.

Jay said...

Loving Wales as much as I do (and since NOBODY has told me about an Australian team for the Knitting Olympics), I am behind you and Brenda - GO WALES! Go Wally The Welsh Dragon (my name for him)!

Franklin said...

We of the Welsh lace knitting brigade salute you, comrade!

Ffrankllyn

Anonymous said...

What a remarkable resemblance you bear to a young Roddy McDowall!

Wales also home to the town with one of the longest names in the world, which has the longest single word domain name. It's Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch.com. No, I can't pronounce it.

Anonymous said...

Love your site, and thanks for the earlier link to the Knit Club movie. That was hilarious. (And the main kid actually was knitting, I think, albeit SLOWLY. Like me!)

Anonymous said...

Oh, my... I had not yet decided to enter the games... Does Team Wales take "descendants"? I don't have dual citizenship, but I have considered becoming an expatriate until we get a change of administration. Now I actually have to choose a project and COMPLETE it. From stash? Naaahhh!
(Is there a Special Knitting Olympics for knitters with ADD?)

Beth said...

I have never read such an apt (and hilarious) description of the Welsh language. I look forward to knitting for the homeland with you!