To be able to belt it out loud and proud with a building full of compatriots is a powerful thing. It can even be a transformative thing, turning the cynical into the heart-proud.
So, when one starts tweaking with what is pure and good and wholesome and don't need no fixing , well...
Just well.
When, at the very opening of Friday's Olympic Opening ceremonies, Canadian jazz singer Nikki Yanofsky started out on her (seemingly) 2 hour adventure in and around the-tune-of-what -could-have-possibly-been-our-national-anthem-but-I'm-not-really-sure, well...
Just well.
I am sure that the decision to slow it up and dance it all over the place was not her decision alone - she had people. And people who have people?
They're the luckiest people. In the world.
Because to begin to atone for this sorry attempt at rousing our nationalism, 16 year old Nikki is also the voice behind my newest earworm.
It is downright miraculous how a woman with an absence of hormones (me, not Nikki) can indeed get so hormonal and squidgey listening to this, but there ya go. I believe.
The song and accompanying video has all sorts of elements - cheddar cheesey elements, in fact - that somehow manage to dig right in there and tug at an old Baroness' heart strings.
Things that get me every damn time, such as:
. someone skating on a frozen lake
. men in tights
. a still sassy 82 year old Barbara Ann Scott, both as a young Canadian figure skating darling and as a modern day arsonist, terrorizing Parliament Hill with her fire stick
. the running of the torch (reminiscent of the man who carries my flame)
. Wayne Gretzky
. Nancy Greene (one of the first skiers I remember watching on tv)
. Inukshuk
. the kickassery of our women's hockey team
. a successful torch lighting (go figure!)
. kids singing
. candlelight
. flying through the air with the greatest of ease
I hear (when I can) that the cure for the common earworm is to diminish its power by sharing it with as many people as possible. Be part of the cure, people:
And as corny as it sounds, I do believe in the power of you and I.
Merry Monday, everyone.
