This time of year used to be very special in my family household when I was growing up.  Having abirthday in late October, we used to make a big deal about forthcoming guy fawkes night.  Somehow this became a family treat, party night and a small amount of the housekeeping budget was set aside for Dad to go down to Woolworths and get a family sized box of fireworks and double quantities of sparklers.

The lessons at school did all seem to mention the gunpowder plot in there – it was quite an important event for a learning tool – not only the historical aspect, which now I am an adult, seems unbelievable that no one had tried doing that before – in today’s violent times with terrorism about us everywhere.  The other lesson involved personal safety and respect for fire and the dangers of unkempt bonfires.  Life is one big learning curve.