Under all that snow there's life. Lot's of life. Squirrels, rabbits possibly even a fox or two. And of course there are birds. All are protected from the harshest cold by the warm blanket of snow. It insulates and keeps the cold arctic wind at bay. It even provides clean water for the wintering wildlife.
How do we know for certain that there is life under the deep snow and sagging tree limbs? Footprints. Lots and lots of footprints left by little animals scampering here and scampering there.
Canada is a land of immigrants. Even families like mine with supposedly deep family roots going back decades, even centuries, are relative newcomers, Unless you are an indigenous Canadian, you are a newbie.
At Christmas one of our neighbours, a lovely lady originally from Turkey, makes baklava and shares it with friends and relatives. This year she sent her daughter to our home with a plate of Turkish sweets.
Baklava is the sweet on the right. It is made from thin layers of phyllo pastry separated by coarsely chopped nuts in a thick syrup with a honey-base. I'm not sure what is on the left but it might be maamoul, a type of date-filled cookie. Our neighbour's version is coated with icing sugar and flaked coconut.
Is baklava a Turkish dessert? Today yes but it may have originated in Greece. At least, that is the story according to many Greeks. But keep digging and you will find claims piled on claims until, if you dig deep enough and go back far enough, you might find your search ending in Assyria in the 8th century B.C.
As for the maamoul, it may have originated with the Phoenicians although the Egyptians often take credit.
What can we learn from a plate of cookies? Well, that our world is place in flux. What you consider "your culture" may just be "something borrowed."
The local turkey farm is not selling the number of turkeys it usually does at Christmas. With the provincial government asking folk not to meet at Christmas, the turkey farm had an unprecedented number of turkey order cancellations.
My wife didn't cancel. The family running the turkey farm were appreciative. At pick-up we found the turkeys being held outside for pick-up. When my wife asked if her turkey could be halved as she no longer needed such a large turkey.
Our turkey may not have been cancelled but our family Christmas dinner has been. The turkey was quickly halved at no charge: "Merry Christmas!"
I left my camera bag in the trunk of my car and I left my car outside. Oops! When the grandkids started decorating the Christmas tree I retrieved my camera to get some shots of the decorations. Oops again! Taken into the warm, somewhat humid home, the lens fogged up.
But the images shot with the fogged lens were inspiring. I shot numerous pictures. I even carefully blew warm, moist breath on the lens to enhance the foggy quality. I shared the results with my granddaughters and actually accented the soft final images with photo software. The lesson? Go with the flow.
The decorations are simple but imaginative. My wife was the first to remark on the creative Christmas look of a neighbour's twin garage doors. When my granddaughters also mentioned how cool the neighbour's house looked, it was time to get out the camera. As I took the photo, passing motorists honked their approval.
In just days it will be Christmas and then New Year's. It will be 2021. Or will it be 2020 take two? It doesn't seem like this year ever got off the ground. It was a bit of a non event. Car shows, like the RM Sotheby's show held annually outside Chatham, about an hour southwest of London, were cancelled. One word explains why: covid.
One word explains why 2021 will not be a repeat of this year: vaccine. Science to the rescue.
There are a number of Londoners with extensive collections of historical photos documenting London over the years. Today's image is from one of those collections.
