30 days in November 16...

This 30 days in November thing is throwing me a couple of curveballs. Today, believe it or not, is:

Have a party with your bear day

Well make of that what you will, but if you do have a bear friend then I hope that you have a great party. I’m going to try to get through this post without asking where a bear does its business, but if you have a real bear be very careful, they aren’t the cuddly creatures that we like to pretend they are; they are vicious killers. Even those cute Koalas can give you a pretty nasty nip and Polar Bears and Grizzlies are the most dangerous creatures (excluding killer donkeys) on earth killing more people each year than sharks or any of the big cats.

Despite the tendency to attack and rip you to shreds, bears are very popular with children. Literature, television, films, video games, even confectionary are full of them as are most kid’s beds. There seem to be more fictional bears than any other creature. I can only think of a few tigers, a couple of sharks, and hardly any centipedes. Monkeys and mice do pretty well, but I think that bears have the edge.

From Paddington to Rupert, Baloo to Shardik and not forgetting Winnie-the-Pooh, bears are scattered across the page like furry confetti. I grew up singing about a group of Teddy Bears having a picnic and watching with mother at lunchtime with Teddy, an imaginatively named Teddy Bear who was a good friend of Andy Pandy and Louby Lou. I always though Louby Lou looked a little dazed, perhaps it was because she shared the same basket with Andy Pandy and Teddy.

Although I have no recollection of ever owning a Teddy Bear I suppose I must have. Didn’t everyone have a Teddy to cuddle as they cried themselves to sleep at night? I remember an elephant on wheels, and I’m sure that I once put my hand inside a Sooty glove puppet, but memories of a Teddy Bear? No, not really.

As a child my favourite bear was Biffo from the Beano even though he didn’t look much like a bear at all, he was kind of dog/rabbit like. Sooty (watch what you are doing with that wand Sue) kept me amused on a Sunday afternoon, and I never missed the adventures of Yogi and Boo Boo in Jellystone Park on Children’s Hour – and yes, he certainly was smarter than the average bear Boo Boo.

Baby Bear, Bungle, Barney, Fozzie, Ted, Super Ted and all those bloody Care Bears passed me by because by the time they showed up I had pretty much had my fill of bears and moved on. Mind you, I do love a Gummy Bear or two (teeth allowing); it’s kind of satisfying to eat a bear rather than the bear eating you.

Anyway, I’m off down the words for a picnic or something.