Winter is officially here, if you looked at the calendar a few days ago. The month of December is always a month of great anticipation. The crescendo of the year included many festivities with the abundance of fattening, delicious food followed by brightly coloured presents. Let us never break our deeply embedded tradition of the Christmas season.
When it comes to winter, we have two choices dealing with the Canadian climate. You can either set up 鈥渃amp鈥� by a fireplace and count down the days before spring or get energized outside enjoying the best the season has to offer. Sure, we endure blinding blizzards, winter chills and treacherous icy roads that plague us at this time of the year. We have acclimatized ourselves, thus wearing hardiness with pride.
Our family holiday was cut short when we received the news that David鈥檚 64-year-old brother passed away suddenly of an aneurysm. Dennis lived one mile from our farm with his wife Darlene (nee Starycki). They have one son, Kyle, who resides in North Battleford.
Three sons were fortunate to take in three NHL hockey games in Phoenix, Ariz. Dec. 17, 19 and 22. Some of us bought tickets for two games. At the Dec. 22 game, the Phoenix Coyotes defeated Toronto Maple Leafs by one goal. Tickets were a lot cheaper at that arena compared to most others.
Some family members golfed in Phoenix and Tucson. Our three grandchildren, ages five, three and 16 months, were also included in this adventure, so entertainment at a butterfly garden and at Sea World Aquarium and Fun Park were highlights for them. Old Tucson is a world famous movie location and western heritage park. It is advertised as a step back in time where 鈥淭he Spirit of the Old West Comes Alive.鈥� It includes gunfights, saloon musicals and history presentations of an 1880s town in the Sonoran Desert.
Pima Air Museum was educational with hundreds of aircraft on display, all shapes and sizes.
Sedona is an interesting, scenic city, but, of course, the Grand Canyon is one of the busiest tourist attractions in the world. Curtis, Greg, Ryan and I drove there Dec. 24, then returned late Christmas Eve back to Sedona. We had to be up very early Dec. 25 to drive back to Phoenix to catch our flight. David managed to quickly return back home Dec. 22. Flights are heavily booked during the holiday season, so one does not have much choice in scheduling their flying time.
Hopefully, by next week鈥檚 news, I will have been in touch with others in my community to tell you how they spent the holiday season. Happy new year to everyone!
