What is it about the Holidays?

Well, Chanukah and Christmas are over for another year and I’m sure I’m not the only one for whom this season triggers many memories.

Christmas wasn’t a holiday we celebrated when I was growing up, we didn’t have a tree or exchange gifts, but we certainly got into its joyful spirit. Ours was a close family, and we spent just about every day and evening together for that week. Good times, good food and much laughter is what I remember.

Like all kids, I looked forward to being out of school for a

Something very weird is going on …

Seriously, I’m very confused.  I think we’re having one of the coldest winters on record — not just here, in Toronto, but throughout the entire Eastern seaboard.

Cold as in -27 celsius with the windchill.  Cold as in frostbite.  Cold as in bone-chilling.  Cold as in frozen window panes.  Cold as in the streets are deserted.  Cold as in even I’ve had to crank up the heat.  Cold as in I have to close my window (which is only open a crack to begin with) and jump back into bed for twenty minutes while the room warms up, before I’ll take my shower.  Cold as in my cats won’t get out from

Day 105. Winter Wonderland?

Yesterday I wrote about rain. So it seems only fitting, especially as winter is just around the corner, that today I write about snow. Usually the mere thought of snow makes me think, “Yuck”. But there are moments when even I can appreciate its beauty.

Like the first snowfall of the season. Before cars have driven through it, and left their tracks. Before people and dogs have walked through it, leaving theirs. When it’s still pristine. Untouched. Unmarked. Pure white.

Glistening in the sunlight, just as if what we were really looking at, were scoops and scoops