I thought I was done with my contributions about dragons, and then I remembered the dragon I love that is teaching me Spanish. …Sort of.
See, early one morning, as I was flipping around the TV dial, looking for something, anything other than the same twenty minute loops of news, and basketball, football and golf, roller derby, wrestling, ski jumping, hockey and ice dancing. Saturday morning/afternoons are the TV Sports Ghetto; just as early Sunday mornings are religious, followed by political analysis.
There were also infomercials and innumerable chances to buy stained glass lamps, jewelry, make-up, handbags, and plus sized clothing being shown. I was about to five up when I found a beautifully produced children’s show, and paused. It was called “Jane and the Dragon.” 
It’s about a medieval girl, Jane, the neat castle she lives in and a knight and child prince and princess and a king and his guard and a jester, blacksmith and others, from menial to top drawer. And Jane’s best friend: her Dragon. She’s wise, and solves problems with the help of the Dragon. The technique of the production is somewhere between ‘toon and digital, the characters are loveable, and the music is medieval sounding, and I love that show! It’s a Canadian production.
But I never found it again. And believe me, I looked. Until one morning this past winter, I discovered it on a Spanish-speaking network. I took French for six years and still am laughed at in Paris and Montreal. English is mine, but foreign languages are not my strong suit. But there was “Jane and the Dragon” in Spanish. Every Sunday morning. I wanted to see it. So undaunted, I watched it. Now I watch it every week.
I learned to read before I went to school by having comic books read to me. And now, I think I’m learning Spanish. Hola!
So I conclude three things:
1) The Canadians can produce something wonderful besides lower price drugs.
2) Dragons are universally admired, and these days we like to believe them to be good. (I bridle at that new bank commercial, which while very funny, shows a decapitated dragon.)
3) If you want something bad enough, you can learn how to get it, and in learning, learn something else too.
So, have you seen “Jane and the Dragon”? (I don’t know anyone connected to the show, believe me.) And have you every pursued something frivolous only to find you’ve found gold in other ways too?