Idioms, Icebreaker, Patio Control and The Hills of Tipperary, a fun morning at Early Birds

 

Dear Members, Guests and Friends,

 

TM Carmine chose his favorite American idioms as Table Topics.  We discovered that…

 

• TM Jim G. is tired of all the red tape he encounters everywhere except when he wants to do some Christmas gift-wrapping – then it’s nowhere to be found.
• TM Paolo thinks in order to drive a hard bargain, in Italy you must practice the old Renaissance adage “qui la dura, la vince”.  He resolutely parla italiano until the red light appears.
• DTM Mary Helen has crushed some people’s Achilles’ heel but later mended fences by gifting them a free pedicure.
• TM Joe’s Dad thought Joe found his buddies and dates by scraping the bottom of the barrel.  Ahhhh those lovely teenage years….
• TM Marie likes dressing to the nines and dreams of her husband daintily carrying her from her beach chaise to the ocean, much like the beach boys did to Bo in the timeless movie “10”. 
• I (Ana) did not know the origin of passing the buck, I simply know that in Spain it’s a national pastime and you don’t have to scrape the bottom of the barrel to injure your heel.   I Won Best Table Topics Award For Most Incomprehensible Table Topic.
• DTM Jim D. prefers to be in the front seat, namely Harley, not Davidson.

 

And then came the anticipated speeches…

 

• TM Randolph delighted us with a lovely icebreaker, where his faith, loyalty, kindness and gentleness shone through.  Like many of us, he’s on a pilgrimage to find the User Manual for Parents.  He Won Best Speaker Award.
• TM Jeff was literally all hands on deck to fix his crumbling yard and patio, where his little dog stuck her paw.  PETA intervened, sent along Manuel and his Dos Amigos, who bought the equivalent of Mt Everest worth of sod, and the rest, as they say, is fodder for Pathways.
• TM Tom took us on a pilgrimage of his Pathways trajectory, starting with the sinking of the Costa Concordia to be blamed on the Captain’s paramour, a bella signora de la notte, only to realize that It’s a long way to Tipperary.

 

As far as evaluations…

 

• TM Tom praised TM Randolph for creating a strong emotional connection through the screen and delivering a nearly perfect speech ironically titled “Why I’m Not Perfect”.
• TM Marie commended TM Jeff for motivating us to take another look at our decades-long To Do Lists – and then set them aside.  Gusto will give it added zest!!  She Won Best Evaluator Award.
• DTM Kip said to TM Tom that the secret to success is to knock off a Pathways project conclusion a year, and the rest is a mere pilgrimage.

 

TM Paolo, as first-time Zoom Master, delivered a full baritono rendition of the opera O Sole Mio, A Virtual Background.  Congratulazioni!

 

The Word of the Day was

 

PILGRIMAGE, noun

The journey of a pilgrim, especially one to a shrine or sacred place.

 

Example:  In the olden days, Early Bird Toastmasters undertook a pilgrimage to The Shrine of Denny’s every Thursday morning, rain or shine - Thanksgiving Day (reluctantly) excluded.

 

 

Here’s the link to today’s YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a00CgAz96n8

 

 

See you next week!

 

Ana I.

Recap Writer