You Know You're in Canada When.... (The first in a series)

When you enter a big municipal recreation complex, in this case RIM Park  - you know, field house, fitness, etc, open to the public - and find this:

And then as you walk around the joint, you realize this rink is only the first of FOUR full-size rinks in the building, and all are BUSY (hockey games and practices, figure-skating, etc -no rec skate, no disco music, no foolin around).

Oh, and it's the home of the Waterloo Wolves. GO WOLVES!

OK, The weather and the CRACK

So, a little background…

Some of you know that I drive a 2003 Ford Explorer that I absolutely LOVE. 

My stately 14-year old truck has only 134,000 miles on her, and I have babied her inside and out and under the hood, fully intending to get to at least 250,000.

One small point of pride - the 2001-2005 Explorers have a defect in the material used for the rear lift gate - a hardshell plastic panel just below the glass - that is notorious for developing a crack down the middle with age and rapid temperature changes. My Miss Dora, however, has been crack-free -- until the Canadian winter started in on her.
We had a few days of single-digit (Fahrenheit) nights, followed by a relatively balmy day where the temp got above freezing - so I hit the car wash - and heard an audible pop from the rear of the vehicle as the warm wash started. DAMMIT! I immediately knew what it was….

Found a supplier for a replacement panel, and a video for DIY, and it looks pretty straightforward - but this will have to wait until Spring.

Boxing Day on Port Burwell beach….

In the US, the day after Christmas is a big shopping day, almost as frantic as Black Friday. I've always avoided it.

To many Catholics around the world it's the feast of St. Stephen, almost as holy a day as the Christ Mass itself.

In Canada, as in the UK, Boxing Day (as it's called), seems to be a day for quiet reflection, not a shopping bacchanal, but neither a high holy day.

A good day to walk on the beach, which, in this weather, belongs to the birds. Great squadrons of geese arrive from the north and pause on their way to warmer climes.

Just six months removed from the sandy chaos of BeachFest, and its own squawking cacophony of kids, vendors and reddening skin.