Happy Christmas

Christmas normally meant travel in our family.  A trip to Yorkton or Ogema when I was little and then later a trip out to Winnipeg.  This year we are all off to Edmonton to celebrate Christmas with my Brother and his family.  Much like when I was little, I woke up bright and early this morning ready to get my trip underway.

It doesn't feel particularly Holiday-ish in London despite the constant bombardment of Christmas Carols, mulled wine and skating rinks.  Yesterday it was 11 degrees ABOVE freezing and the grass is still green.  People are shopping frantically and there is a steady stream of "How to Cook/Craft/Garden Your Way to the Perfect Christmas" on television.  One show even taught you how to butcher your own pig which is an interesting hybrid of all three categories of perfection.

My friend N and I went skating last Sunday at the Tower of London where they have set up a small rink in the moat.  It was a pretty spectacular setting...but there are also rinks at Canary Wharf, Somerset House, the National History Museum, Hyde Park, and Hampton Court Palace.  I'm sure there are others too but these seem to be the most advertised.  They are all artificial ice surfaces but I'm thinking that the ice plants aren't that sophisticated as the ice is really soft and could use a few laps of a Zamboni!  It definitely one of the first times in my life that I was one of the best skaters on the ice.

Skating also reminded me how lucky we are in Canada.  At home, we can regularly grab our skates and head out to a dug-out, slough, lake, neighbourhood rink or river. If you are lucky, some enterprising soul has gotten a few buddies together and dragged an old sofa down to ice level where you can stop for a breather.  Here in London, you clamp on your rented skates, book ahead and have a timed slot for hitting the ice...and there is not a hockey stick in sight.

I have finally been truly homesick and you'll never guess what was the cause: it snowed one morning.

Happy Christmas to all my friends and family!