It's kind of like people in a sense. Back in 1830 a lady named Anna Slezak invented a dance near Prague. The room where she danced was small and  it made her movements short. The dance was called The Polka or  Half dance. I believe that the dot was called polka because people's heads looked like several dots all going round and round on a dance floor squished into a tiny room. A polka is a round dance.  The couples go round and round on the  floor making little circles. Don't ya just get a tid bit dizzy thinking about  it.

For those of us who can remember the song called "Itsy bitsy teenie  weenie yellow polka dot bikini" or those of us who can remember the time in which

we weren't round as a dot and could wear such a bikini. (Oh yeah, those  were the days… a size 00 in a red bikini with yellow polka dots.) Polka is a music we all had to learn in school, never figured why they wanted us to learn  those dances. Those were not what was executed at the school dances or at Prom.  They should have taught us how to waltz, I mean hey, at least we could have slid  across Texas or Jitter bugged our way into another dimension. I think it was to  prepare us for something great in the world. Like me writing this article, I  remembered dancing to the music way back, when I think about it, it seemed silly but I suppose educational. I think I would have preferred the sultry reggae sounds of the bayou which were so  enchanting.

Don't get me wrong, I think Polka music is a great music, in it's own place. We listened to a lady in Florida playing the Accordion and hitting every lil' polka dot sound that was necessary to make that song bop and skip like two  sets of wooden shoes and were not talking clogging either. I actually found some interesting information about the Polka. (And I have a pair of those wooden  shoes too) The following is what I found, very impressive I must say.             

Polka is no joke.  It is alive and well and even resides on over 26,000 web sites! Polka festivals pepper the United States like the seasoning in your grandmother's stew, and not just in rural areas. Downtown Chicago and mid-town Manhattan are among the spots where polka's sound, dance, costume, and traditions come  alive.

While polka seldom has received credibility for what it stands for it is in the seeing and listening that we  truly find what it really is. Even after amazing staying power it has an intriguing history. Over 150 long years  have passed since the initial polka craze swept Europe in the 1830's and  1840's. Then, polka was considered a

suggestive dance with scandalous remarks.  Imagine a man and a woman, arms around each other hopping and bopping around the floor of a tiny room.  The fad  spread to the US, producing tunes like "Jenny Lind Polka" about that 1850s singing sensation, and "Rail Splitter Polka" composed for Abe Lincoln's 1860  presidential campaign. Wow, now that makes Abe a true music  appreciator.

For at least the next fifty years, waves of immigrants from the lands of polka traditions,  like Central, Northern and Eastern  Europe streamed to America. The music and dance soon became an emblem linking  them to their ethnic identities. To name a few, German, Polish, Czech,  Slovenian, Mexican and Finish-American styles of polka emerged. Music and  dancing styles have evolved, influenced by the diverse American musical environment, but each of the styles keeps its own recognizable sound. No matter if it's fiddles, horns or squeezeboxes, it's still a polka band, as long as that thrilling rhythm propels energetic dancing couples around the floor. The Flamenco Dancers all know the beat as  well.

So we wonder why is it utilized in the movies and everyday life fittings. It is close to the hearts of people who know all to well of hard times. Polkas remind us of a special Grandparent or the struggles they endured in the stories of survival and hard work on dust ridden  farms, those who weathered a shorter life in the coal mines to feed their  families. Those, whose tired souls continued through the steel mills and  packinghouses to make a better life for their children and their children. The sharing of family gatherings, singing songs from the old home country, of tasty ethnic memories made by the hands and love of a mother who needed no instructions, for she just knew. They are what contributed to the deepest values: family, religion, honesty and work ethic. The American  Dream. For it is in who we are and know no shame from its heritage. That in itself is an admiration of self worth that anyone should be proud to acknowledge.

There is also some music that is titled "Polka Dots & Moonbeams." I  knew there was something special in it for the moon and me. Did you ever notice  how all those cute pink frosted cookies always have the dots on them. Well I  suppose I have bored some of you this month but for those festive people out there interested in obtaining their own personalized dot, contact me by e-mail at sales@toneeke.com and we will fix you  right up.

It seems as though I have sat here forever yet I know it has been a short span, seemingly a DOT in time. I better wrap this up as the editor may dot my forehead if I don't send my article in. I think there is no real summary to this one but I'll see what I can do.

Life is like a dot, you never know where it will be at on a map, If we look into our hearts we all imitate the polka in some variation. A dot can be anything depending on the distance you view it from. A dot can be that small innocent spot in the center of your soul that says I remember and I care. Perhaps it is that small gleam of light that twinkles from  your smile or your eyes that starts that dot rolling down the domino road that we all can make. Even dominos need dots to be what they are. 

So dance a on a dot and encircle your soul, play a tune from the polka and one more thing just so you will truly know, we all began as an egg in the shape of a dot.