Isle of Man and Postman Pat

When I was little, my mum and I would travel across the Atlantic to visit my grandparents in the Isle of Man.

The windswept island, located in the middle of the Irish Sea, is home to the Manx cat, TT racing, and a warm population of people seeking tax shelter and good fortune from the many pixie fairies that live on the island. Superstitious lot. Here’s a fairy* good link if you would like to learn more about Isle of Man Fairies including, fairy activities, fairy dwelling-places, and human/fairy interactions.

I loved my summers on the Isle of Manx. For a little girl from the Prairies who dreamt of being a marine biologist or a script girl for team Zissou, the beach was wonderland of fun. I spent most of my time scooping up various marine life with my spade and shrimp net and plopping them into beautifully constructed sand bucket habitats. Sustainability of my new saltwater friends in said habitats did not necessarily enter into my mind at the time. Result: Marine life was not sustained in castle-shaped sand bucket. The little fishes and the scuttling crabs and the beady-eyed shrimp all died. Died. I just don’t understand. I put plenty of seaweed for them to eat. That’s what they eat, right?

So… the next year I took to flying kites and puppetry.

After building the marine habitats, and flying kites, and performing “Jack and the Bean Stalk” with my intricately glued construction paper finger puppets, I watched my favourite show “Postman Pat” (and his black and white cat). I was recently able to revisit the lovable stop-animation teleshow through a new interactive flash site for Postman Pat. Wonderful! You can even watch clips from the show. Oh, it made me so happy to visit Greendale again.

*$.99 Pun Whiz, Special Order, 1989.