Of snowmen and hot cocoa

When it snowed recently in London, Fiona just had to make a snowman. She'd never made one but was familiar with the concept from television. Still, she wasn't prepared how fast a rolling snowball grows in size and how heavy it rapidly becomes.

One big surprises was how cold snow can be. She slipped off her mitten to work on her snowman and her fingers were soon painfully cold. She slipped her mitten back on.

With the snowman done, and her fingers regaining their warmth, it was time to go inside for hot cocoa. Fiona likes measuring out the powder and stirring the hot drink until it swirls about in her cup. If grandma and gugah come to her "tea party" all is right with the world.

Cheese is big business and imported

Fiona tries helping gaga by grating some cheese for an omelet.

When I was little I can recall going to a cheese factory owed by a friend of my father and mother. The factory was near Alexandria in Eastern Ontario. Today, the factory is gone.


Closer to home, cheese factories once dotted the area around London. No more. Every so often a new enterprise opens up, but as often as not they soon close. Big companies, like Kraft, bought the small family concerns and today the big conglomerates control the market.

My granddaughter may never know the pleasure of going into a cheese factory and buying some fresh curds, still warm to the touch and squeaky on the teeth.

Locked out permanently

Ontario was once the economic engine of the entire country. The province was the industrial heartland of Canada. Today, industry is leaving: Mexico, China, even the States are the destinations.

The Electro-Motive Diesel plant in London was opened in 1950. After more than half a century and three owners, the locomotive plant is being closed. Caterpillar demanded that the workers take a cut of approximately 50 percent in pay and accept further cuts in benefits and the company pension plan. The workers refused and Caterpillar locked them out.

As the lockout stretched into the fifth week, Caterpillar pulled the plug and is pulling the plant out of Canada. Counting the unionized and non-unionized workers, approximately 700 Londoners are being thrown out of work.

The biggest stairs I've ever seen.

I live in the area of London with the most hills, Byron. It is so hilly that Boler Mountain, the local ski hill is located in my subdivision.

My granddaughter, Fiona, loves to go outside and she loves a good walk. Yesterday, we took off down the slope across the street from where I live. There's a small playground down there and the neighbourhood public school.

To make it easier, and safer, for the kids coming to and going from the school, there is long staircase behind the building. When Fiona spotted the stairs she exclaimed, "Look! The biggest stairs I've ever seen." Seeing how she is just 29 months, she's probably right.

She had to climb those stairs, and she did.

Warm winter for southern Ontario in Canada

It has been one warm winter with very little snow. I've actually had my English roadster out twice this winter. No snow. No salt. No slush.

But Fiona found some snow to enjoy. She called it a snow doughnut. It was the snow piled in the court by the snow plow. It has been so warm that the entire middle of the pile was melted away.

London at Night

This short video of London at night was shot by StoryBox Productions, a local communications company specializing in telling stories with a strong visual bent. They love producing stories with stylish, artistic visuals that people will remember.

A little snow angel

Fiona has watched Max and Ruby make snow angels. If you don't know who Max and Ruby are, well, you clearly don't have little ones. Max and Ruby are rabbits, rabbits in a cute cartoon for kids.

For the past few weeks Fiona has been making floor angels. We haven't had much snow. She did get out once to make some real, snow angels but just once. It got warm and it rained. The first snow was washed almost completely away.

Well, this past Saturday was different. We had snow and Fiona had her snow suit, mittens, a warm hat and new, cozy boots. That's her word for warm boots: cozy. She was ready to hit the snow.

And she does hit the snow. She let's herself fall backwards, hitting the fluffy, light white powder with a bit of a thud. I try to stop her from pulling the stunt where the snow is a light dusting over paving stones. She doesn't protest.

We walked together all the way to the park, with Fiona dragging her sled behind her. Sleds are great fun to pull. It's even more fun if the sled is filled with snow. And if one is pulled in one's sled, it is just the best if a bed of soft, cold snow cushions the ride. If you don't know that, well, you clearly don't have little ones.

We searched the neighbourhood for fresh, unblemished snow. Nothing. Everywhere we went other kids had been there first. Everywhere that is, except for the slide in the park. No other kids had the will, or stick-to-it-ive-ness to struggle through the snow to the top of the slide. But that snow, as untouched as it was, was not suitable for snow angel making.

Fiona slogged through the snow, climbing to the top of the slide. Carefully positioning herself at the top of the snow-clogged slide, she then eased herself down. She moved forward --- slowly, pushing snow ahead of her as she gradually descended. "Again! Again!" she said with excitement and satisfaction. She made five climbs up, each one easier than the last, and five slides down, each one faster than the last, until fully cleared of snow, the slide was open for use.

The challenge met, we headed home.

And at home we found it: unblemished snow. It was in Gugga's backyard. (Fiona has christened me Guggga. Her other grandfather is grandpa Bill. But I'm Gugga; Her buddy.) Finally, Fiona made her snow angels. She made lots of snow angels. And then, she spent a little time admiring them.

I took these moments to do something similar. I admired my little snow angel: Fiona.